The Lie behind The Liar (Editing)
by Loki's Captain
Summary: Loki's in a spot of trouble. Well, he's been possessed for the last 14 years. It's up to Danielle (Tony and Steve's daughter) to fix it all, even if she has to do it whilst the Avengers think she's now the enemy. Even villains themselves think she's one of them. When in fact she's saving the universe, though it won't be without a price. COMPLETE (The Magical Effects of Magic #1)
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

I have been here for what seems like forever, perhaps it truly has been eternity and I am the only one left. That would explain why everyone has yet to notice... Who am I trying to fool? Why would anyone realise? Who would be the one to know me well enough to see the difference? I've always been the outsider in the mad family that is the universe.

Even my body is no longer my own, I do not see what it does and where it goes. Instead, I am trapped, perhaps in the confines of my own mind, perhaps I have fallen into a void, perhaps this is the afterlife and I am doomed to survive in this hell.

I was Loki, one a God in my own right, now... Now, nothing.


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

**1st of May 2028, New York**

"No Danielle, you're not getting a suit, not yet. You're only fourteen." Steve says firmly, using my full name like he always does when arguing with me.

"But dad promised he would make me one." I protest weakly. Tony, also known as Iron Man, is my dad, Steve aka Captain America is my father, both biologically. A very long scientific tale will explain how I have come to be the 'test tube baby' as politicians like to label me. I find the term more than a little derogatory, but I have no superhero name for them to use in their trash talk either, so I let the term sip.

That isn't to say I'm normal. Because of the SSS serum in father I've... Genetically mutated somewhat. On the plus side it's made me stronger, faster, and given me better reflexes. There are no downsides. It's all a little weird though, because according to Uncle Bruce, my DNA is perfectly normal, and doesn't show any traces of the SSS serum, but we have no other explanations for why I'm like this. Granted, I'm nowhere near the level of Captain America or what Natasha used to be (before they reversed some of what the Red Room did to her – whatever that means) I'm still a level up from your average human.

Dad just gave me the brains.

My life is great except for when it isn't. Physically and mentally I'm capable enough, but my life is far from conventional. Growing up with superheroes for housemates means that, actually, I'm as far from conventional as you can get. It also means I'm seen as some sort of teen idol, - I don't know why, I'm no hero - the perfect hostage, and a freak. Sometimes just one, sometimes all three.

"It's inevitable really, I'll get one somehow. If dad won't make one for me, then I'll build my own." I state, it's not as difficult a task as you might think, especially since I've grown up around them. I try to aim for sounding indifferent, but I don't quite manage the level of nonchalance dad can pull off.

"Don't take that tone with my young lady. He said when you were sixteen you can have one, if you're lucky. That won't be for just over a year yet. If you carry on like this I doubt you'll be getting one at all. End of discussion." The sternness of father's voice makes it quite clear he isn't going to be changing his mind any time soon. Or ever, being as stubborn as he is.

I storm out of the room in a way which definitely isn't at all childish. Why should I have to wait? Do they think I can't handle it or something petty about responsibility and age? _Nearly fifteen years old and still considered a baby to the family, what an accomplishment._

Father is always on about getting things 'if I'm lucky', he talks as if Dad won't hand me anything I want at the first opportunity, _especially _a suit I should think, he always talks about the one he's planning on making for me.

"Now go finish your homework, I know you find it a doddle but that doesn't mean you don't have to do it." Father calls from down the hall as I head to my room. Homework? I did all of it in the car on the way home. Being the daughter of Tony Stark means intelligence is part of the job description, but I'm no genius in the same way he is. Yeah, engineering is a part of me, but only because I've worked at is so hard, dad's always pushed me in that direction, hoping I'll follow in his footsteps. (I don't think I will in the end, even if I don't follow into the now family business of saving the world, my interest in engineering isn't all-encompassing.)

The subjects I really excel in are art (a skill I've inherited from father), mathematics, and more cultural based subjects such as history and religious education, though R.E. kind of bores me. History, of course was going to be a given, and I'm quite the expert in 1940's America. The Viking era, not so much, apparently even though Thor has been alive a _long _time, he hasn't really bothered on visiting Midgard until this century. Norse mythology, however, is something I know very well.

When I get into my room I walk over to my desk and grab the book I'm in the middle of reading: _Labyrinth_ by Kate Mosse, a compelling read. I've always loved reading. I seem to prefer the company of the people on the paper than those around me, I'm not quite sure why, perhaps it's the fact it lets me live thousands of lives in hundreds of different places and eras, yeah, that sounds about right.

"Jarvis, is dad still in the workshop?" I ask the A.I. system, already knowing the answer. Dad's always there it seems, he never stops working. Sometimes it can be convenient, but it's also down right annoying at others. Sometimes you'll catch him at the bar, or in the main room after a battle, but not often, I mean, he even ends up _sleeping _there.

"Yes he is Danielle, would you like me to tell him you inquired?" Jarvis replies in his British accent. I'm told, it's meant to imitate the accent of a butler dad used to have in his childhood.

"No thanks Jarvis." I'm not quite sure why I want to know where dad is, no doubt my mind is thinking up some mischievous plan and the rest of me is lagging behind a little. Mischievous, yup, that word defines me pretty well, I'm always around to cause some harmless devilry (trouble is constantly finding me, so it might as well be trouble of my own making,) after all, what is life if you can't joke around a little?

I remember one time, I must have been about four years old, and I was arguing with Uncle Thor. Most of it's a blur but at one point I said I'd hit him with his hammer to which he replied that I couldn't - only Thor can wield it blah blah blah - of course, little me took that as a challenge so I walked purposely over to the hammer, the rest of the Avengers watching me probably thinking "Aww, isn't she adorable. This will be funny." I actually managed to drag it across the floor a few inches, much to everyone's surprise. Thor avoided me for a week after that, scared of what I might I might be able to do if given the chance. Rightly so if I may add, I'm unbeatable, God of Thunder or not... I highly doubt worthiness controls the wielder, Dad says everything comes down to science, then again he hasn't really dealt with magic, like, at all. It's all just one huge bundle of uncertainty, no wonder dad doesn't like it. There is one thing I'm sure about though, it's that I'm certainly not worthy now.

I glance at the clock sitting on my desk, it's an old clock I've had as long as I can remember. Briefly, I think about how little the world has changed over the course of my life. Between 2014 and 2028 there have been developments to make greener cars and energy, crop produce has increased infinitesimally in order to feed the ever growing population but aside from that, nothing has changed, not really. Is this the world I'm living in? One that has come to a near complete standstill? When I grow up will I be living in a world frozen in one time, not capable or welcome to change? It'll probably fall to a few to change that, me among them perhaps, I'm not going to be one of those people happy to settle with what's already done, hell no, not until we are even better than the Gods on Asgard, magical artifacts and all.

"And what's dad doing in the workshop?" Luckily for me, Jarvis has always bent to my will, even if it sometimes goes against dad's wishes, I can trust the A.I. enough to keep my secrets. I think it's all dad's fault really, he once made the mistake of ordering Jarvis to do anything I wanted and then somehow managed to order the A.I. not to help with 'unreasonable requests' or something like that, leaving dad with half his orders unfollowed and all of mine done to the letter, it's all quite comical. It's also partly because Jarvis is a sentient being in his own right, with his own thoughts he obviously just realises I'm so much more likeable than dad.

"He has been working on a new suit but at the moment he seems to have fallen asleep." Fallen asleep huh? Perfect for me to go take a look round his workshop. It's not often I can go undisturbed, someone's always in there - people don't seem to appreciate my snooping - but when I do go down there I have a great time: going through dad's blueprints, checking out his projects even tinkering and adjusting a few things on his suits, tiny things that either make them a little more efficient or destroy them completely, not that dad ever finds out who's to blame.

"Anyone else down there?" I ask cautiously, having made that mistake beforehand.

"No." That one syllable seems to brighten my whole mood. I will get my suit, even if it means building it in secret by stealing all of dad's equipment.

I slowly open my door, glancing down the hallway to see father sitting on the sofa, also asleep. It's really not that late, why is everyone napping all of a sudden? Even so, I have to be careful walking past father, he has heightened senses, is a light sleeper, and mixed with his weird, war like sleeping routines he is stupidly alert even when unconscious.

Tiptoeing down the hall and along the edge of the room, I slip past father with practised ease, heading towards the white staircase that leads down to dad's workshop. I jump down the steps, taking them three at a time, using the banister to quietly hop from one step to another, pretending I am some famous ballerina dancing across a stage. I've always admired the grace of a ballerina, the beauty and elegance they possess as they glide across the floor, telling a story through movement and not words. I've been teaching myself as best as I can, with the help of my close friend Rachel, who is one of the up-and-coming ballerina stars and the only one who knows of my secret passion.

As I reach the workshop entrance I see dad's head resting on the table, bent over his work, with one half filled cup of coffee close by and at least five empty cups strewn on the floor. He seems to live on caffeine, the amount he drinks each day never ceases to amaze me, and I'm just waiting for the day where he starts having hallucinations because of it. I wonder what type of things he'd see.

I creep over to his desk to take a look at what he's been working on. Just as Jarvis said, it's the plans for a new suit. To the untrained eye it would look identical to his current one but after a closer look you can see there is the odd explosive has been added and the thrusters look to be stronger and more efficient – in theory. I spend a little time snooping around the room, not finding anything interesting, before going back to the desk where most of dad's latest projects are.

"What have you got here..." I mutter to myself after uncovering a file marked 'top secret' under one of the blueprints. On the top right of the cardboard folder is S.H.I.E.L.D's logo, I didn't know they still do paper copies, everything is digital nowadays. I sigh disapprovingly as I look at all the details printed onto the front cover, for an ominous government agency that haven't really got the hang of secrecy have they, I mean, their logo is printed onto everything they own.

I wonder if I can get away with taking the folder with me, will dad notice it's gone? I highly doubt it, even though the billionaire keeps paper copies, he uploads everything to his database to backup, forgetting about the paper versions straight after. I won't need it for long anyway, just long enough to read through the thin file.

I freeze as I hear dad move behind me, but he only lets free a quiet snore. False alarm.

After picking up the file and rearranging everything back to roughly the way it originally looked, I walk back towards my room, wondering what is in the folder and telling myself not to open it until it's safely in my bedroom, but as ever curiosity gets the better of me. The photo that greets me upon its opening is one I haven't seen before, but I know exactly who it is. Loki, the man responsible for nearly killing my dad and attacking most of my family. I quickly slam the file shut again, _wait until you get to your room Dani!_ I look at the six printed numbers on the corner of the file in befuddlement, why would there be a file dated... 28/4/28, three days ago? The invasion happened before I was even born.

Before I know it I've reached the living room again. I stand ready to quietly walk around the edge of the room, but when I look at the sofa, father isn't there. I freeze once again as my eyes narrow a little, where is he? Does he know where I've been? I only let myself relax when I realise he isn't in the room.

Nonetheless, I tuck the file under my jumper and glance at the clock on the wall, nearly midnight, I've spent a lot longer than I anticipated down in the lab. _He's probably just gone to bed, _I realise as I mentally chastise myself for being so paranoid. I see that the door to his and dad's room is shut and sigh, looks as if I'm right. There I go again, stressing a bit too much for my liking, and for no reason.

I change into some pale green shorts and a black crop top with the ying and yang symbol on it, crawl into bed and pick up the file again, though a little more reservedly this time. I don't know what to expect when reading it, only that it probably won't be good.

When I was younger I asked about the 'New York Incident', everyone was hesitant to tell me about it but Clint thought it would be good if I knew, so he told me of how he'd been possessed by Loki's scepter and the events that had followed the God's arrival. Overall I have to say a mighty fine plan, if you're Thor, and have absolutely no understanding how Midgard works. Firstly, you can't beat the Avengers, I've grown up watching them and know their every weakness and every strength, no stranger can just stroll in and win. Secondly, who attacks New York when looking to set up a starting base? Why not Washington, or London, or even Beijing, where all the important buildings are. It's all just too violent for someone the mythology has acclaimed to be 'cunning' and 'sly'... However, all of this happened over fifteen years ago, that still doesn't explain why the date on the file is this year, I guess I'll only find out when I read it for myself.

So again, I gingerly open it, looking at the picture longer this time. It's a portrait, zoomed in to his face and shoulders like a mug shot, probably taken after his capture. He's not wearing the helmet everyone talks about, shame. Loki's dressed in black and green with a hint of gold just making it into the shot. He has a pale almost pasty complexion, maybe that's his natural skin tone, but that level of paleness is something I associate with sun deprivation, it doesn't look very healthy, especially with the slight ring of black around his eyes. And _wow_ his eyes, a stunning green... They're mesmerising, but his best feature has got to be his hair or maybe it's just his whole face. Look at that hair! It may be a little greasy but it's easy to tell someone has at some time done some serious styling. It really completes the look, his, frankly amazingly gorgeous look... _Wait, what the hell are you doing Dani?_ _Admiring the enemy! The man who tried to kill your family_, the incredibly ...hot... guy ...who tried to kill your family... And his eyes, too beautiful... I throw the picture aside and suddenly I feel slightly better, what on earth am I doing? I know I'm supposed to be in my hormonal teenage stage, but seriously, this guy is like a bajillion years old, a total villain and I'm here admiring his hair? He killed over eighty people in two days! Well, never mind, it doesn't matter, I'm never going to meet him, he's locked away in an Asgardian dungeon, rotting his brains away hopefully.

Next in the file is a description of him and a brief history, not that they have much to actually put down on him, it just describes the New York attack and some things Uncle Thor has said. The rest of the file is pretty empty, only a couple pages after that, one about the events that happened in 2014 with the dark elves and a little about Loki's death... Wait. What? Loki's dead? And no one has ever thought to tell me!? I've been here, even thinking of a name for my suit - DIGITAL, which stands for Dani Is Gonna Immediately and Totally Annihilate Loki - but all this time, he's actually been dead? I can't believe it, cannot, fucking, believe it, don't they feel the need to tell me anything? Oh wait a minute, no, they never tell me anything, I always have to find it all out myself!

My God I'm furious! They don't have the right to hide something as big as this from me! Always pretending he's such a potential threat, how much of a threat is a dead man? Then there's all this business with S.H.I.E.L.D that they've kept hidden from me, which has meant more sneaking around on my part. I'm not even sure why this particular incident seems to feel so important as to rank above the rest, but it is and it does, and for once I'm going to trust my instincts. I'm nearly fifteen, a few years and I'll be an adult, even though I feel like I am already. Time and time again the _Avengers_ have failed to include me in their plans, or tell me anything of any significance. It's pathetic and humiliating.

This is the point where I start intervening, not in secret any more, like I've been doing for the past couple years, not anonymously hinting the answers to them, they've kept this lie from me my whole life, making me think I should prepare for the day he decides to return for another bash at world domination. I have literally dedicated years of my life to preparing for that inevitable battle, the one against Thor's crazy adopter brother and he's been dead the whole time?!

I stuff the papers back in the file, not caring if they get crumpled as I do, forgetting about the picture which I've thrown across to the other side of the room a few minutes earlier. Hurriedly, I jog back to the workshop which is now bathed in darkness. Dad must have woken up and gone to bed.

_Who knows what else they've been keeping from me. Is there something else I should know about? Why the hell am I so angry about this? Shouldn't I be happy? Hell no, this is the angriest I've been in a long time!_

In my outrage I don't notice dad's desk and I end up walking straight into it, catching my hip on the corner harshly, in just the right place for it to catch a pressure point and my leg to buckle.

"Oww. You idiot Dani." I mutter through gritted teeth as I see a trickle of crimson run down onto my shorts. Quickly, I put my hand on the area I've cut and apply pressure to slow the bleeding, dad will probably have questions if he notices blood splattered across the floor. The wound itself isn't at all bad, still hurts like a bitch though.

I stumble back to my room, getting increasingly frustrated with everything as I take each step. I remind myself that I'm supposed to be on a stealth mission, that's the only thing stopping me from yelling out in frustration and knocking that expensive looking statue off its pedestal. This is the problem with anger, it can appear out of nowhere, because of something trivial or a simple mistake. And once it's there it just builds and builds, for me at least. This is a trait I don't get from either of my parents.

Normally I'd force myself into a calmer state of mind - it's something I've been working on - but why should I when I'm in the comfort of my own home? So instead I brood angrily up the numerous flights of stairs to my room – why didn't I just take the lift?

I decide it's better to let out my anger in the gym, on a punching bag, let the adrenaline flow away that way. I'll go and change, wash my hands - the cut has already stopped bleeding in the ten minutes it's taken me to angrily stomp here, leaving my hands a sticky mess of red - then go down to the house gym. It may be the middle of the night but I never go to sleep angry,_ better to stay up to plot your revenge_, that's my motto.

The door slams shut behind me, I don't care if I wake my parents, they deserve a sleepless night because that's what I'll be getting because of them. I walk past my desk and bed towards the en suite bathroom but just before I reach the smaller room I halt and slowly turn to face my bed with a frown plastered onto my features. I'm pretty sure I threw the picture over to the other side of the room, near the pile of adorable, fluffy, teddies and stuffed toys I own, but now... Now the picture is sitting on my bed... I close my eyes, trying to recall the moment, maybe I'm just mistaken.

No, it definitely wasn't on the bed when I left the room... Perhaps one of my parents came in when I was downstairs and found it, but then again it wouldn't be here now if that was the reason, they would have taken it with them. No matter, I'm probably just tired and moved it there before leaving the room. I take a few steps forward and lean over to grab the photo and turn it so it's now face down, I find it less unnerving that way.

Shaking my head, I walk into the en suite, turning on the tap and letting the warm water wash the blood off my hands, no need to add soap since it's already mixed in with the tap's water, giving my hands a weak smell of vanilla.

I bring my hands up to my nose, inhaling the fresh scent, _yes, better_. I nod in silent agreement with myself as I stare at my reflection. I feel like I should be on a Snickers advert.

The anger I had is now beginning to slip away, leaving me drained and tired, but more than that, it has left me feeling hurt and oddly betrayed. I feel as if I'm mourning the death of a man I never knew, which was absurd. And makes me entirely uncomfortable.

All of a sudden I feel a burst of energy from somewhere nearby interrupting my thought of harnessing my emotions for focus, which is weird, how can I _feel_ energy? I rush into my room and see a little green light fade away from on top of the picture of Loki. Damn, I don't think this is going to be good. I should have left it in that file, actually I should I have just left the file alone altogether, but that's not really my style, my curiosity will _always _win.

I look at the picture, the origin of the fading light. On the bottom right hand side of the image are four letters, one word. Written in a green flowing font is a simple message. Help.


	3. Chapter 3

**_Warning: Just a note this chapter does contain strong language._**

**Chapter 2**

**1st of May 2028, New York**

"No Danielle, you're not getting a suit, not yet. You're only fourteen." Steve says firmly, using my full name like he always does when arguing with me.

"But dad promised he would make me one." I protest. Tony, also known as Iron Man is my dad, Steve aka Captain America is my father, both biologically. A very long scientific tale will explain how I have come to be the 'test tube baby' as people like to label me. Because of my father and the SSS serum injected in him, I've... Genetically mutated slightly, making me stronger faster - in my opinion better, though I can manage that just fine with or without it - than pretty much everyone. I get my brains off my Dad and because of whatever self-experiments he's done, I can also meld with the suits pretty well.

All of that is great except for when it isn't. Physically and mentally I am more capable then mostly everyone I've met, and growing up in a house full of superheroes means I'm literally as far from normal as you can possibly get. It also means I am seen as some sort of teen idol, - I don't know why, I'm not hero - the perfect hostage, and a freak, sometimes just one, sometimes all three.

"It's inevitable really, I'll get one sometime. If he won't make me one, then I'll build my own." I state, trying to aim for indifference but not quite managing the nonchalance my dad can pull off. Creating my own suit is well within my capabilities, I've been working with my dad since I could walk, before actually, mechanical engineering is as much a part of me as the history of 1940's America and ancient Norse mythology.

"Don't take that tone with me young lady. He promised you one when you were sixteen if you were lucky, that's not for just over a year yet. If you carry on like this I doubt you'll be getting one at all. End of discussion." The stern tone in his voice made it clear the captain wasn't changing his mind.

I storm out of the room, why should I have to wait? Do they think I can't handle it or something petty about responsibility and age? Nearly fifteen years old and still considered a baby to the family, what an accomplishment. Father is always on about getting things 'if I'm lucky', he talks as if Dad won't hand me anything I want at the first opportunity, _especially _a suit I should think, he always talks about the one he's planning on making for me.

"Now go finish your homework, I know you find it a doddle but it still has to be done." Father calls down the hall as I head into my room. Homework? I did all of it as soon as I'd got home. Being the daughter of Tony Stark part of the job description is high intelligence, but I'm not a genius in the same way he is. Yeah, engineering is a part of me but only because I've worked at it so hard, dad has always pushed me in that direction, hoping I'll follow in his footsteps. The subjects I really excel in are art (a skill I've inherited of father), mathematics, and more cultural based things such as history, religious education, but R.E. kind of bores me. I stay with a class my age but when it comes to capabilities I could be applying for university this summer.

Instead I pick up a book I'm in the middle of reading; _Labyrinth_ by Kate Mosse, a compelling read. Ever since I was young I've had a soft spot for reading, well, infatuation. I seem to prefer the company of the people on the paper than the people around me, I not quite sure why, perhaps it's the fact it lets me live thousands of lives in hundreds of different places and eras, yeah, that sounds about right.

"Jarvis, is dad still in the workshop?" I ask the A.I. system, already knowing the answer. Tony is always there, he never stops working, it's convenient at times but down right annoying at others.

"Yes Danielle, would you like me to tell him you inquired?" Jarvis replies.

"No, thanks Jarvis." I'm not quite sure why I want to know where dad is, no doubt my mind is thinking up some mischievous plan and the rest of me is lagging behind a little. Mischief, yup, the word defines me pretty well, I'm always around to cause trouble (trouble just comes to me so it might as well be from my own accord), after all, what is life if you can't joke around a little? I remember one time, I must have been about four years old, and I was arguing with Uncle Thor. Most of it's a blur but at one point I said I'd hit him with his hammer to which he replied that I couldn't - only Thor can wield it blah blah blah - of course, little me took that as a challenge so I walked purposely over to the hammer, the rest of the Avengers watching me probably thinking "Aww, isn't she adorable. This will be funny." I actually managed to drag it across the floor a few inches, much to everyone's surprise. Thor avoided me for a week after that, scared of what I might I might be able to do. Rightly so if I may add, you could not beat yours truly, God of Thunder or not... I highly doubt worthiness controls the wielder, Dad says everything comes down to science, then again he hasn't really dealt with magic, like, at all. The one thing I know is I certainly wouldn't be worthy now.

I glance at the clock sitting on my desk, it's an old clock I've had as long as I could remember. Briefly I think about how little the world has changed over the course of my life. Between 2014 and 2028 there has been developments to make greener cars and energy, crop produce has increased infinitesimally in order to feed the ever growing population but aside from that, nothing has changed, not really. Is this the world I'm living in? One that has come to a near complete standstill? When I grow up will I be living in a world frozen in one time, not capable or welcome to change? It would probably fall to a few to change that, me among them maybe, I'm not going to be one of those people happy to settle with what's already done, hell no, not until we are even better than the Gods on Asgard, magical artifacts and all.

"And what's dad doing in the workshop?" I'm lucky that Jarvis always bends to my will, I am master, me Danielle Stark-Rogers not Anthony Stark, it's all his fault really, after making the mistake of ordering Jarvis to do anything I wanted hr then managed to order Jarvis to not help with 'unreasonable requests' or something like that leaving dad with half his orders unfollowed and all of mine followed to the letter, it's comical really.

"He has been working on a new suit but at the moment he seems to have fallen asleep." Fallen asleep huh? Perfect for me to go take a look round his workshop. It's not often I can go around undisturbed, someone is always in there - people don't seem to appreciate my snooping - but when I do go down there I have a great time: going through dad's blueprints, checking out his projects even tinkering and adjusting a few things on his suits, tiny things that either made them a little more efficient or destroyed them completely, not that dad ever finds out.

"Anyone else down there?" I ask cautiously, having made that mistake beforehand.

"No." That one syllable seems to brighten my whole mood. I will get my suit, even if it means building it in secret by stealing all of dad's equipment.

I slowly open my door, glancing down the hallway to see father sitting on the sofa, also asleep. It's really not that late, why is everyone napping all of a sudden? Even so, I have to be careful walking past him, he has heightened senses, is a light sleeper, and mixed with his weird, war like sleeping routines he is stupidly alert even when unconscious.

Tiptoeing down the hall and along the edge of the room I slip past father with practised ease, heading towards the white staircase that leads down to dad's workshop. I jump down the steps, taking them three at a time, using the banister to quietly hop from one step to another, pretending I am some famous ballerina dancing across a stage. I've always admired the grace of a ballerina, the beauty and elegance they possess as they glide across the floor, telling a story through movement and not words. I've been teaching myself as best as I can, with the help of my close friend Rachel, who is one of the up-and-coming ballerina stars and the only one who knows of my secret passion.

As I reach the workshop entrance I see my dad's head resting on the table, bent over his work with one half filled cup of coffee close by and at least five empty cups strewn on the floor. He seems to live off of caffeine, the amount he drinks each day never ceases to amaze me, I'm just waiting for the day where he starts having hallucinations. I creep over to his desk to take a look at what he's been working on. Just as Jarvis said, it's the plans for a new suit. To the untrained eye it would look identical to his current one but after a closer look you can see there is the odd explosive added and the thrusters look to be more efficient.

"What've you got here..." I mutter to myself after uncovering a file marked top secret under one of the blueprints. On the top right of the cardboard folder is S.H.I.E.L.D's logo, I didn't know they still do paper copies, everything is digital nowadays. I wonder if I can get away with taking the folder with me, will dad notice it's gone? I highly doubt it, even though the billionaire keeps paper copies he uploads everything to his database to backup, forgetting about the paper versions straight after. I freeze as I hear dad move behind me, but he only lets free a quiet snore. False alarm.

After picking up the file and rearranging everything back to how it originally looked, I walk back towards my room, wondering what is in the folder and telling myself not to open it until it's safely in my bedroom, but as ever curiosity gets the better of me. The photo that greets me upon it's opening is one I haven't seen before, but I knew exactly who it is. Loki, the man responsible for nearly killing my dad and attacking most of my family. I quickly slam the file shut again, _wait until you get to your room Dani!_ I look at the six printed numbers on the corner of the file in befuddlement, why would there be a file dated... 28/4/28, three days ago? The invasion happened before I was even born.

Before I know it I've reached the living room again. I stand ready to quietly walk around the edge of the room, but when I look at the sofa, father isn't there. My eyes widen a little, damn, does he know where I've been? Immediately tucking the file under my jumper, I glance at the clock on the wall, nearly midnight, I've spent a lot longer than I anticipated down in the lab. _He's probably just gone to bed, _I mentally chastise myself for being so paranoid. I see that the door to his and dad's room is shut and sigh, looks as if I'm right. There I go again, stressing a bit too much for my liking, and for no reason.

I change into some pale green shorts and a black crop top with the ying and yang symbol on it, crawl into bed and pick up the file again, though a little more reservedly this time. I don't know what to expect when reading it, only that it probably won't be good.

When I was younger I asked about the 'New York Incident', everyone was hesitant to tell me about it but Clint thought it would be good if I knew, so he told me of how he'd been all possessed by Loki's scepter and the events that had followed. Overall I have to say a mighty fine plan, if you're Thor, and have absolutely no understanding how Midgard works. Firstly, you can't beat the Avengers, I've grown up watching them and know their every weakness and every strength, no stranger can just stroll in and win. Secondly, who attacks New York when looking to set up a starting base? Why not Washington, or London, or even Beijing. It's all just too violent for someone the mythology acclaimed to be 'cunning' and 'sly'... However, all of this happened over fifteen years ago, that still wouldn't explain why the date is this year, I guess I'll only find out when I read it for myself.

So again, I gingerly open it, looking at the picture longer this time. It's a portrait, zoomed in to his face and shoulders like a mug shot, probably taken after his capture. He's not wearing the helmet everyone talks about, shame. Loki's dressed in black and green with a hint of gold just making it into the shot, with that is his pale almost pasty complexion - he doesn't look to healthy - and his eyes were green, so green... They're mesmerising, but his best feature... His hair. Just wow, look at that hair! It really completes the look, his, frankly amazingly gorgeous look... _Wait, what the hell are you doing Dani?_ _Admiring the enemy! The man who tried to kill your family_, the incredibly ...hot... guy ...who tried to kill your family... And his eyes, too beautiful... I throw the picture aside and suddenly I feel slightly better, what on earth am I doing? I know I'm supposed to be in my hormonal teenage stage, but seriously, this guy was like a bajillion years old, a total villain and I'm here admiring his hair? He killed over eighty people in two days! Well, never mind, it doesn't matter I'll never meet him, he's locked away in an Asgardian dungeon, rotting his brains away hopefully.

Next in the file is a description of him and a brief history, not that they had much to actually put down on him, it just describes the New York attack and some things Uncle Thor has said. The rest of the file is pretty empty, only a couple pages after that, one about the events that happened in 2014 with the dark elves and a little about Loki's death... Wait. What? Loki's dead? And no one has ever thought to tell me!? I've been here, even thinking of a name for my suit - DIGITAL, which stands for Dani Is Gonna Immediately and Totally Annihilate Loki - but all this time, he's actually been dead? I can't believe it, cannot, fucking, believe it, don't they feel the need to tell me anything? Oh wait a minute, no, they never tell me anything, I always have to find it all out myself!

My God I'm furious! They don't have the right to hide something as big as this from me! Always pretending he's such a potential threat, how much of a threat is a dead man? Then there's all this business with S.H.I.E.L.D they've kept hidden from me, which has meant more sneaking around on my part. I'm not even sure why this particular incident seems to feel so important as to rank above the rest but it is, and I'm going to trust my instincts. This is the point where I start intervening, not in secret any more, like I've been doing for the past couple years, not anonymously hinting the answers to them, they've kept this lie from me my whole life, making me think I should prepare for the day he decides to return for another bash at world domination.

I stuff the papers back in the file, not caring if they get crumpled as I do, forgetting about the picture which I've thrown across to the other side of the room a few minutes earlier. Hurriedly, I jog back to the workshop which is now bathed in darkness. Dad must have woken up and gone to bed.

_Who knows what else they've been keeping from me. Is there something else I should know about? Why the hell am I so angry about this? Shouldn't I be happy? Hell no, this is the angriest I've been in a long time!_

In my outrage I don't notice dad's desk and I end up walking straight into it, catching my hip on the corner harshly.

"Oww. You idiot Dani." I mutter through gritted teeth as I see a trickle of crimson run down onto my shorts. Quickly, I put my hand on the area I've cut and apply pressure to slow the bleeding, dad will probably have questions if he notices blood splattered across the floor. The wound itself isn't at all bad, still hurts like a bitch though.

I stumble back to my room, getting increasingly frustrated with everything as I take each step. I end up causing quite the racket on my journey back to my room, knocking things over, kicking things, I nearly yell in frustration but restrain myself. This was the problem with anger, it can appear out of nowhere because of something trivial and then it just builds and builds. This is something I don't get from either of my parents.

Normally I'd force myself into a calmer state of mind - it's something I've been working on - but why should I when I'm in the comfort of my own home?

I decide it's better to let out my anger in the gym, on a punching bag, let the adrenaline flow away that way. I'll go and change, wash my hands - the cut has already stopped bleeding in the ten minutes it's taken me to angrily stomp here, leaving my hands a sticky mess of red - then go down to the house gym, it may be the middle of the night but I never go to sleep angry,_ better to stay up to plot your revenge_, that's my motto.

The door slams shut behind me, I don't care if I wake my parents, they deserve a sleepless night because that's what I'll be getting. I walk past my desk and bed towards the en suite bathroom but just before I reach the smaller room I halt and slowly turn to face my bed with a frown plastered onto my features. I'm pretty sure I threw the picture over to the other side of the room, near the pile of adorable, fluffy, teddies and stuffed toys I own, but now... Now the picture is sitting on my bed... I close my eyes, trying to recall the moment, maybe I'm just mistaken.

No, it was definitely not on the bed when I left the room... Perhaps one of my parents came in when I was downstairs and found it, but then again it wouldn't be here now if that was the reason, they would have taken it with them. No matter, I'm probably just tired and moved it there before leaving the room. I take a few steps forward and lean over to grab the photo and turn it so it's now face down.

Shaking my head, I walk into the en suite, turning on the tap and letting the warm water wash the blood off my hands, no need to add soap since it's already mixed in with the tap's water, giving my hands a weak smell of vanilla.

I bring my hands up to my nose, inhaling the fresh scent, _yes, better_. I nod in silent agreement with myself as I stare at my reflection. The anger I had is now beginning to slip away, leaving me drained and tired, but more than that, it has left me feeling hurt and oddly betrayed. I feel as if I'm mourning the death of a man I never knew, which was absurd. and makes me entirely uncomfortable.

All of a sudden I feel a burst of energy from somewhere nearby interrupting my thought of harnessing my emotions, which is weird, how can I _feel_ energy? I rush into my room and see a little green light fade away from on top of the picture of Loki. Damn, I don't think this is going to be good.

It seems the picture can multitask because on the bottom right hand side are four letters, one word. Written in a green flowing font is a simple message. Help.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 3**

**Loki's dream**

"So that's how my day went. The dear little Asgardians are getting suspicious, they don't realise it's nearly time." The consciousness of the power finishes its story, using its mocking tone of voice once again.

"What do you expect? They notice things, they're not _completely _dense. The Asgardians won't work out your plan though, ha, even _I_ didn't see that coming." Loki laughs bitterly, still angry with himself for the costly mistake he made nearly two decades ago. He has a right to be, it was an incredibly bad decision.

"Now, now, Loki. No need to be bitter, I chose you because you have potential. More than the Asgardian scum." The sentience replies sweetly, the finger of its swirling, white, ghost-like form pointing toward Loki as it talks. "And what have you been doing all day, locked up wherever you go whilst I'm awake? Where is that exactly?" It asks innocently as if it doesn't already know the answer. Loki used to hate the consciousness, it would draw everything out of him some way or another, tearing everything up bit by precious bit. But now Loki almost looks forward to the chats. Almost. Anything to allow a brief reprieve from his loneliness. It has been nearly twenty years- which he has calculated due to these 'nightly' visits - since he touched that pesky sphere, that's when this all started.

"The potential for what exactly? To be the willing host body for the schemes you think up? Do I have to remind you how many of your plans have failed?." Loki pauses before answering the second part of its question even if he knows it was meant to be rhetorical. "You know full well what happens when you're not sleeping, one minute we're here talking and the next it's like I'm locked away in a cell of complete darkness, it should be _me _asking _you _where I go, no doubt you know." Loki doesn't know where he goes, both physically and mentally. He only knows that his soul returns to a place of darkness and loneliness not unlike the void beneath the Bifrost. It cannot be a simple prison within the mind because Loki still has use of his magic, meaning it is a real, physical place. His body... Like Loki says, ask the sentience, it controls his form now.

"The potential to be a great ruler, in my opinion at least. You were stuck with childish ambitions, I just gave the push to bring up you to an entirely new level! You should remember that, for you owe it all to me. And no, you shouldn't ask me for I fear you do not want to know the answer." Loki really ought to persevere in his attempt to learn the consciousness' plan. Ever since the sentience has taken control of Loki's body, it has gone on and on about _'the time when everything will change'_ but there has never been any further elaborations, much to Loki's annoyance. He has failed to learn much at all, its arrogance leaves room for little else.

"Pray tell, when the time for the grand change arrives will I get my own body back? I have quite the ever growing list of things I need to do." First of which will be to make everyone suffer, namely the consciousness itself. Nearly twenty years he's been subjected to this mental torture and no one has ever come to his aid, a master of magic would surely be able to help in a situation such as this, at least to some degree. It's at times like these that you realise nobody truly knows you, after all, apparently not a single Asgardian has realised Loki's been possessed by some crazy power source, or do they really think of him as such a monster? If that's what they think, Loki will just have to fill the low, low expectations they've set for him. They'll rue the day they left Loki Odinso- Laufe- (he guesses, just 'Loki' will have to do) to rot.

Asgard, his adopted family, Thor, they'll all suffer; the prince is going to make sure they know the true meaning of the word pain. Odin and Thor will watch as he rules (or burns, the trickster is still undecided) all of the nine realms. Heimdallr, he'll also have to pay his due. 'He who can see everything', did he turn a blind eye on that moment where everything changed? Is he still looking away from Loki's problem? It's no secret the gatekeeper harbors a certain animosity towards him. Even so, even Heimdallr, for all his hate, would not risk keeping such things hidden from the All-Father and Thor. By that logic it must be them who have failed to come to Loki's aid, the thought of that is even worse.

"If all works, then yes, it will be one of my gifts to you-" _Gifts? _It speaks as if it isn't common decency. "-I've never told you about what's going to happen have I? Well, that story will have to wait for another time." The consciousness says sweetly before changing to a much more sinister tone, "However, if something did happen to go wrong... Say you managed to send out a warning with your magic... Then things will not end well for you little Loki." Loki thinks that look is meant to scare him, but it's hollow to him, he knows this infatuation it seems to have for him will keep Loki from harm.

Does this _thing _really think it can make things any worse for Loki anyway? Loki has convinced himself that nothing will break him, that nothing is _capable _of breaking him. He repeats it to himself, like a mantra. It's one of the only things he has nowadays, and isn't that just pathetic? But so long as the phrase stays believed, it will hold true. And as long as it stays a fact, Loki knows, someday, he will get his revenge. Not by the means Asgard is accustomed to, with his childish ideals and a little prank, mischief that would affect them for a day maybe a little longer. This time it will be something of the permanent sort.

"See, I can tell from that look you've got there, you'll be thanking me by the end. Like I said, I'm raising you up to an entirely different league." Somehow Loki doesn't find the words comforting, nor the laugh, slightly feminine in tone, which follows.

"Hm." Loki half replies, a little lost in thought. "Why would I try to mess anything up for you? I want vengeance too, if I did anything to stop your plans, I'd be stuck talking to you until Ragnarok, a fate far worse than death." He replies sarcastically. Thinking back to the consciousness' earlier question sets the prince a little on edge, does it know what he's done? What he's been trying to do?

Earlier that day, whilst locked away in the place of eternal darkness, Loki tried again. Tried again to send out a plea for help. Normally Loki would never stoop so low, but desperate times call for desperate measures and false words.

For years, Loki has been trying to send a message to the outside world. At first, when he was still newly trapped, the prince would make multiple attempts a day, but time has weakened him and left his magic slipping away, and desperation has set in, his resolve is now fracturing and leaving him completely, and throughout all of this Loki's spells have never worked. By now Loki's magic is close to slipping away altogether. Knowing it will soon be forever out of reach he made one last spell, the strongest he'd used in a century or so considering all the stealth elements and insurance charms he had added to it. It was sent it out to anyone who could hear it, hopefully his magic has guided it towards someone suitable to aid him. Loki hopes that whoever that person is, wherever they are, they will make sense of whatever message they've received, quickly if possible. The prince has no magic left to use... It has all but disappeared leaving this hollow feeling inside him. Never before has the Jotunn truly been without magic, even with the metal mask that had once been clamped over his mouth. (or the mouth of his physical form at least. Yet, it had affected him, proving his soul was still connected to his body) Then, he'd had a trickle of his magic, but now, even that has abandoned him.

Loki knows his seidr will return if he gets free, magic is a very fluid energy and is extremely difficult to dispel permanently, so Loki does not fear losing it, but it doesn't make the feeling any less unnerving.

Abandoned him... that's what everything has done except the consciousness that is sitting on the grass in front of Loki, smelling a rose from what used to be his mother's garden, leaving the young prince to finish his trail of thought before answering the question. It's rather surprising how well it knows him. He guesses it is to be expected after they have shared so much time.

Loki takes a moment to study the form of the sentience. It has chosen to appear as a woman, but Loki refuses to call the sentience anything but an 'it'. Golden hair, and a simple dress is its usual appearance. If he saw her in any other situation he might've even called it beautiful, unfortunately, he can only view it as repulsive, and vile, and the perfect accomplice to any plan he might wish to exact. Of course the fact hits form is not quite completely corporeal doesn't help. Power radiates from it, creating minute wisps and tendrils of power that mean what should be solid is more of a blurred line.

"Because that's what you do, you are, after all, the God of Mischief." It finally replies. "The question is, are you still that God? I remember when I first connected with you, just before going to Jotunheim, just before finding out you were actually a Jotunn yourself, and what an unexpected surprise that was. The confusion you felt when you would say, or do things you hadn't meant to, like actually suggesting that Thor went to Jotunheim, you didn't realise it was me at the time." It carries on, mentally torturing him with memories of the past, from where everything started falling apart, before that, during his childhood, and on and on and on. Then continuing to talk about all the things Loki's been blamed for since it has taken full control of his body, until suddenly he is no longer in his mother's garden but instead back inside the darkness. He welcomes it, thanking it for taking him away from the never ending chatter of the creature. As per usual he wonders why he looks forward to these conversations when they constantly prove to be a disappointment, the answer will come to him soon enough, when he has once again reacquainted himself with the darkness.

The only consolation to the psychological torture is that when the consciousness is here, it cannot be elsewhere causing havoc or tarnishing Loki's name further. If it wants to do that, it can do it under its own goddamn name.

The power source sounds as if it really doesn't want Loki knowing where he is, maybe it is so he cannot not seek an escape, for surely he is near some realm. Yet here is like no place the prince has ever seen before. He can sit down, stand up, walk and run, yet there was no floor below the prince to support his weight, but he doesn't fall and he doesn't seem to float, it's like the whole thing was a... Illusion.

Loki can't believe the idea has slipped his mind until now. And he tells himself illusions are his specialty, he practically invented them, okay, slight exaggeration there. Now that he's had the epiphany he can see the signs that this is indeed an illusion, and a very well made one at that, yet it seems it is getting careless because these hints certainly weren't here before. The ever so slight shimmer is present, one you can't hope to notice unless you know what to look for. The principles of an illusion like this are simple enough because there are no stationary objects to take into account. Even now, Loki can tell this is still an accomplished spell weaver though, as a power source it must come as part of the job description, it has managed to evade all his earlier spells and keep him contained. And it is no simple illusion either, Loki himself has no physical form, presently he is a soul detached from his body, therefore the confines of his makeshift cell must take that into consideration.

Simply knowing that won't help him, Loki will need to know the exact nature of the spell so he can counteract it with his... His... "Magic." Loki sighs, the hope accumulated a moment ago diminishes. His magic is gone and now he's trapped inside an _illusion_ of all things. Maybe it is karma coming back with its venomous bite, turning the tables and leaving him the victim in this round. _Pathetic, _Loki mentally sneers to himself. Anyway, even if he does manage to drop the illusion, he still won't have a physical body, and he has no idea where he'll be waking up to, and that could be extremely dangerous. He doesn't doubt that the sentience has set many precautions to keep him here. _Maybe all the dreams are illusions too and the thing had actually managed to completely expel me from my physical self._ _Or maybe the past twenty years were all an illusion and this is all an exceptionally cruel trick... But alas, if the latter is true then I really have lost my touch, and perhaps my sanity._

Loki's thoughts continue to travel round in circles, beginning with 'what if' and circling back to an ever growing feeling of helplessness.

* * *

**Asgard**

"I swear to you, it is no longer the Allfather, it is an impostor." Sif hisses as the warriors three join her on the one of the wooden benches, read to eat their dinner. Fandral's plate clatters as it's placed heavily on the long table in the small meals hall near the training barracks. Sif spares a glance at it as she sits down, the warrior lost a sparring match earlier that day, but there is no shame in losing against a skilled officer of war, after all, Fandral doesn't fight with his bare hands half as much as Tyr does.

"You've always been one for making big accusations haven't you Sif?" Volstagg replies before biting heartily into a leg of beef. Everyone was – an still is - very sceptical when Sif suddenly told them the Allfather was, in fact, not the Allfather. They've all noticed the changes in his behaviour, but to imply something like this is practically treason, and they've already been there and done that twice, no need to chance the fates a third time.

"I'm sure we all know Odin is not a spell weaver." Sif says, waiting for them to agree, which they all eventually did with a nod of their head. The All-Father is allowed magic by the means of Gungnir, but Odin has no innate skill, that much is common knowledge.

"How would you explain the illusions I saw him cast? As well as when he slipped into some sort of trance and began talking to someone, from the sounds of it, to Loki, freely admitting some of his plans." Sif questions, knowing she is admitting that she has been spying on the All-father, also a punishable crime. Sif doesn't have any hard evidence but she trusts her instincts, as well as her ability to recognise the All-Father. "For all we know he might just be an illusion that Loki has cast, he might have deceived us all!" Sif emphasizes her words but makes sure to keep her volume down even if she does feel the urge to slam her fist onto the table. There are many ears in this dining hall, all happy to do anything to get in the king's favour. Most of them don't know of all the new laws, just like a majority of Asgardians, as their day to day affairs aren't affected by the restrictions.

The Warriors Three share a glance, all of them worrying for Sif, she can get a little enthusiastic, and the situation she's describing is hardly a plausible one.

"Loki? He's dead. Unless you wish to inform us we've been deceived yet again." Volstagg says with a pointed look for once, speaking on behalf of the group. When concerning the trickster, Sif was always more than a little biased, especially after the hair incident. Though his tone is light, Hogun can hear the unsaid warning in it. They are friends, but he has never been one to put up with Sif's animosity towards the late Prince, Loki may not have been his friend, but up until Thor's exile, he had not been Loki's enemy either. And never let it be said that Volstagg would disrespect one of the dead, or they might turn in their graves and rise for vengeance.

"I believe you." Fandral tells his comrade, he trusts Sif with his life, and he trusts her words as well. He too, has been keeping a close eye on the Allfather, noticing his growing erratic behaviour, though originally it was because he was worried some illness was befalling him. Contrary to popular belief, he can be observant. He thought that Hogun and Volstagg noticed these changes too, obviously he was wrong. The only thing to decide know is where they go from here.

Six hours and many flagons of mead later, they've finally decided that Sif, at least, truly believes what she's saying to be true, though that doesn't mean it is. Other than that they've taken no steps forward or backwards, not deciding what they're going to do with this knew half-knowledge they possess.

"What else did you overhear?" Fandral asks, trying to break the circle of repeated conversation and move it on to the more important topics. He hopes that she has heard more than the little she speaks of, otherwise they have nothing to go on and the day's decision will amount to nothing. Even if they do have damning proof there is still little they can do, the Allfather, even though an intruder is all powerful in the eyes of Asgard.

"A lot of what was said appeared to be small talk but two things stood out... He knows where the true All-Father is, or at least he's hinted to knowing. And he said something about an event that would bring great change. We all already know of the latter, he must have been talking about Ragnarok, and we've already taken the necessary precautions to prevent the apocalypse." Sif tells the other three, reassuring herself just as much as anyone else. Since the prophecy was predicted, it has been a topic of tension in many of the realms, not often talked about, but the fear still there nonetheless. And even though they've taken measures to avoid Ragnarok, that doesn't mean there can't be something else equally as dangerous out there, another wolf to take the place of Fenrir, a dragon on Midgard who might kill Thor instead of Jormungandr...

For the most part, Hogun has remained silent so far, only weighing in opinions a few now, he is more of a thinker than a talker. He decides things need to be pushed along. "Now is not the time to talk, it is the time to plan." And plan they do.

* * *

**Asgard, 2011**

"What in the name of Odin was that?" Loki mutters, after feeling an enormous burst of magic from somewhere. A spell weaver, perhaps? Loki decides to check it out on the chance that he is right, only a powerful sorcerer can have an aura so strong it's felt even in the palace. The prince teleports to near where he feels the energy originating, he can practically see it radiating around him, thrumming strings of power connecting everyone and everything.

"Where are you little spell weaver." He says under his breath when he sees no one immediately. He walks forward, allowing the magical aura to guide him. As he pays closer attention he realises it doesn't feel like a person's energy, more like a... Power source. _Imagine the possibilities if I harnessed that power!_ _The mischief I could cause, maybe even to ascend to the throne. _Loki lets free a small smile at the thought, at least he can bring his brother's faults to attention, with the coronation looming his deadline draws ever closer.

After a minute or so Loki spots a disturbance by a cluster of trees, something that is emitting a white light, but seems to be physically gold in colour. Quickening his pace, Loki hurries to the object. As he suspected, it is not a person at all, most definitely a new power source, and a large one at that, it probably even rivals some of those kept in the vault.

The object is orb shaped, and only just larger than Loki's fist. Covered in gold swirls and patterns it conveys a certain elegance. What captures the prince's attention most is the light, ethereal and almost angelic in the way it shines. Loki should take it to father, or notify the guards of its presence, he should at least go to his mother. But he doesn't do any of the things he should.

Swirls of light seem to beckon the prince to touch it, Loki knows he shouldn't, yet he finds himself leaning forward, reaching down and grabbing the beautiful spherical object. As soon as his skin makes contact with the metal he realises he's made a grave error in judgement, but before he can react, a burst of concentrated magic hits him and flings him back through the air.

It takes a few attempts but eventually Loki manages to stand, though it's shakily at best, he feels a little like he's been electrocuted as the magic goes through him into the land beneath him.

Loki puts his hand to the back of his throbbing head and brings it down to see it's covered in blood. Looking down to where he landed, Loki can now see a large rock protruding from the uncut grass is to blame for that. It's not a serious injury, even training has resulted in worse, but perhaps Loki should return to the palace, just in case. That isn't what's worrying the young prince though... He feels different, and not in the good way. _Don't be stupid Loki, go check the orb, take it to the keep or something. Maybe hand it to Thor see if it shocks him too! It'll be humorous at least._ Loki tries to convince himself._ But I feel different... Something's wrong. _Still, the prince ignores the warnings his instincts are giving him, surely he is just a little disorientated after his fall. This 'grave error of judgement' seems to be a false alarm, it's not often Loki has one of those.

When Loki finds his way back to where the sphere of magic was he sees it has disappeared from it's resting place beside the trees, how odd. Loki spends a good hour looking for it, if he can just get his hands on it safely then a great many more options will be open for him. Now it risks falling into the hands of his enemies, _damn_.

**[A/N: So I thought I'd give a little bit of a flashback. Some origin scenes, I know this chapter is a bit scattered but hopefully as the story progresses all these different parts will come together. Kudos and Comments are like candy to me, it's great to know that people are reading this!]**


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 3**

**Warning: Strong language**

**Asgard, 2028**

"I swear to you, it is no longer the Allfather, it is an impostor." Sif hisses as the warriors three join her on the one of the wooden benches, read to eat their dinner. Fandral's plate clatters as it's placed heavily on the long table in the small meals hall near the training barracks. Sif spares a glance at it as she sits down, the warrior lost a sparring match earlier that day, but there is no shame in losing against a skilled officer of war, after all, Fandral doesn't fight with his bare hands half as much as Tyr does.

"You've always been one for making big accusations haven't you Sif?" Volstagg replies before biting heartily into a leg of beef. Everyone was very sceptical when Sif suddenly told them the Allfather was, in fact, not the Allfather. They've all noticed the changes in his behaviour, but to imply something like this is practically treason, and they've already been there and done that twice, no need to chance the fates a third time.

"I'm sure we all know Odin is not a spell weaver." Sif says, waiting for them to agree, which they all eventually did with a nod of their head. The All-Father is allowed magic by the means of Gungnir, but Odin has no innate skill, that much is common knowledge.

"How would you explain the illusions I saw him cast? As well as when he slipped into some sort of trance and began talking to someone, from the sounds of it, to Loki, freely admitting some of his plans." Sif questions, knowing she was admitting that she has been spying on the All-father, also a punishable crime. Sif doesn't have any hard evidence but she trusts her instincts, as well as her ability to recognise the All-Father. "For all we know he might just be an illusion that Loki has cast, he might have deceived us all!" Sif emphasizes her words but makes sure to keep her volume down even if she does feel the urge to slam her fist onto the table. There are many ears in this dining hall, all happy to do anything to get in the king's favour. Most of them don't know of all the new laws, just like a majority of Asgardians, as they aren't to do with their everyday affairs.

The Warriors Three share a glance, all of them worrying for Sif, she can get a little enthusiastic, and the situation she's describing is hardly a plausible one.

"Loki? He's dead. Unless you wish to inform us we've been deceived yet again." Volstagg says with a pointed look for once, speaking on behalf of the group. When concerning the trickster, Sif was always more than a little biased, especially after the hair incident.

"I believe you." Fandral tells his comrade, he trusts Sif with his life, and he trusts her words as well. He too, has been keeping a close eye on the Allfather, noticing his growing erratic behaviour, though originally it was because he was worried some illness was befalling him. He thought that Hogun and Volstagg noticed these changes too, obviously he was wrong. The only thing to decide know is where they go from here.

Six hours and many flagons of mead later, they've finally decided that Sif, at least, truly believes what she's saying to be true, though that doesn't mean it is. Other than that they've taken no steps forward or backwards, not deciding what they're going to do with this knew half-knowledge they possess.

"What else did you overhear?" Fandral asks, trying to break the circle of repeated conversation and move it on to the more important topics. He hopes that she has heard more than the little she speaks of, otherwise they have nothing to go on and the day's decision will amount to nothing. Even if they do have damning proof there is still little they can do, the All-Father, even an intruder, is all powerful in the eyes of Asgard.

"A lot of what was said appeared to be small talk but two things stood out... He knows where the true All-Father is, or at least he's hinted to knowing. And he said something about an event that would bring great change. We all already know of the latter, he must have been talking about Ragnarok, and we've already taken the necessary precautions to prevent the apocalypse." Sif tells the other three, reassuring herself just as much as anyone else. Since the prophecy was predicted, it has been a topic of tension in many of the realms, not often talked about, but the fear still there nonetheless. And even though they've taken measures to avoid Ragnarok, that doesn't mean there can't be something else equally as dangerous out there.

For the most part, Hogun has remained silent so far, only weighing in opinions a few now, he decides things need to be pushed along. "Now is not the time to talk, it is the time to plan." And plan they do.

* * *

**Stark Tower, New York.**

"Help?" I say aloud, more like a question, hoping an answer will appear from somewhere as to who has written on the picture. More importantly, why has someone written 'help' on the picture? And, how did someone get in here and do it so quickly? I was in the bathroom, for what, two minutes and could see my bedroom door in the reflection on the mirror above the sink, no one has walked in through that door since I've been here. It's all almost like... Magic.

I lean forwards, swiping the photograph off my purple and white chequered duvet to inspect it. First, I put my hand on the writing itself, the area feels a little warm but as I move my hand away the word doesn't smudge at all. Next I smell it, weird, yes, but it'll tell me if this is ink or not, ink always has that sharp, slightly unpleasant, smell. There's the slightest of scents, a mix of ice and an earthy mint, not all together unpleasant.

Of course, there is the obvious sign that magic is probably to blame: the green light which has now dissipated. There is - was - only one other time I've heard of a light like that, and that was during the New York incident. Though Midgard has become more aware of the other realms, magic is still a rare thing here, Wanda and Dr. Strange are some of the few known Midgardians who possess magic, and even their abilities are limited compared to what I've heard about true mages.

The only spell weavers I actually know about are Dr. Strange, Wanda, Charlie - we had a chance meeting - and Loki. Excluding Loki, all of them have specific crafts they can do, which isn't this, and their magic isn't green, and if they wanted to talk to me they would just call... That leaves Loki, Uncle Thor has said more than once that Loki is - was, I remind myself bitterly - a master at magic, that at one time he was unrivalled in all of the nine realms and still held that title to Thor's knowledge. I'd once replied by asking why they made him wear a 'horrible no-magic mask', if he was so strong wouldn't he just break it? But Thor had told me that to be any sort of equal to Loki they had to forge it from the rarest of elements and use nearly all the spell weaver's in the realm of Asgard. Freya, the patron Goddess of magic, was the closest match to Loki in the nine realms, in both skill and power. But Freyja had resided in Valhalla for the majority of the recent centuries and there had been no match between the two in quite some time... At least, that's what I remember from the conversation.

"Jarvis can you confirm if this is magic or not?" I ask, hoping it's within his capabilities.

"I cannot be sure if it is magic but the energy matches the levels there were when Loki used his."

"An exact match to his?" I've always imagined magic is unique, and each user has a fingerprint of their own if you will. Though, these differences are probably subtle. Right now, it's just a theory, I don't know enough people with magic to run any tests unfortunately.

"From what I can tell, yes, Miss Rogers." So definitely magic, one that matches Loki's signature, if you can call it that. Might it be him? Of course it can't, he's dead... Or is he? I find it hard to believe Loki's dead, I mean, first off, he's supposed to be around to start Ragnarok, he can't do that if he's dead... Secondly, I have a very sceptical mind, and I'm also very stubborn, if obstinacy is the only thing that will keep the evil, son of a bitch alive for me to kill, then so be it.

Thor has said, on more than one occasion that his brother was a master illusionist... Has the thought never crossed anyone's mind? I mean, it has to have crossed someone's mind... It's a pretty obvious conclusion to come to. How hard can it be to fake one's own death anyway? Under normal circumstances I would ask Dad but I think this time it might be better to keep my mouth shut, it'll look suspicious if I suddenly start voicing questions about things I'm not supposed to know. A God of Mischief certainly seems like the type who would fake his death... And also send stupid notes like this.

Shaking my head, I dismiss the thought and begin to get up from where I've ended up sprawled over the bed. I think I've been reading too much fiction recently. Time to head to the gym.

By chance I look at my hands, there's a hint of green that I don't think was there a few moments ago. Not good, I tell to myself. Next thing I know I'm falling towards the floor, suddenly exhausted. I don't even feel my head hit the ground.

As soon as I reopen my eyes I jolt into a standing position, staring around at the void surrounding me, complete darkness pressing in from all directions. I turn, slowly at first, trying to figure out where I am and how I've got here. This isn't just a lucid dream or an hallucination, that much is obvious. Running on that logic somehow I've been transported here, and that's never a good sign. My guard is up, just waiting for the inevitable attack to begin.

The darkness itself feels like it's suffocating me, I've probably only been here mere minutes, but already I'm uncomfortable, a slight prickling all over my skin that's just telling me to get out. I don't let myself get shaken up, because as disorientating as this all is I need to work out who's responsible for me ending up here, wherever here is.

Out of the corner of my eye I see something move, and immediately I turn to face whoever it is, moving into a defensive stance. What I see if a huddled figure a few metres away, barely moving, facing away from me. Though I'm curious I don't let my guard drop, this might all be a trap after all.

Would it be best to back away or to confront? I don't know, the figure doesn't seem at all intimidating, sitting cross-legged, head bowed down like that. It actually looks like the opposite of intimidating. But I don't have a clear view of him - her? - I can hardly make a reliable evaluation. Regardless, I find myself shuffling forwards. There is no solid ground beneath my feet, but it still feels like I'm walking on a hard wood floor. I walk in a wide circle until I am eventually facing the figure. Taking a few steps closer I see the hung face, and sagged shoulders, hair hides most of his profile from view. The man is sitting legs tightly crossed, staring at some point in the ground.

For a moment I wonder how I can see so clearly, it makes no sense, being surrounded by darkness, yet everything is as clear as day. But I quickly divert my attention back to the matter at hand.

I stay still, not moving, barely breathing, waiting for the figure to make his first move, half worried he's going to dart into some sort of frenzy and attack me. Even from here I can tell this person doesn't look like the perfect specimen for sanity. Then again, who is?

I get a little worried when he doesn't even acknowledge my presence, so I take another few steps closer, I'm now near enough to see his hair is full of tangles, and he's wearing a faded fern green shirt which hangs loosely from his frame, but I still can't see his face through the black curls. Is this the person who brought me here? I don't remember anything after falling to the ground, was I drugged? Was it magic? In this case I think it was probably the latter.

Eventually he looks up, seeming to be only a little surprised to find me standing in front of him. As soon as I see his face clearly - again, I have no idea where the light is coming from - I recognise it instantly and jump back in surprise. This man is supposed to be dead. I'm not quite sure what to feel right now, horrified because a mass murderer who nearly killed my whole family is alive? Excited, because my theory is right, he's not dead, and that means I'll get to kill him. Or, you know, scared, because somehow he's brought me here and that means he has to know who I am and damn, that can't be good. Well, it's certainly not the latter, a Stark doesn't get scared or at least they'll never admit to it.

For some reason I can't bring myself to be angry, not much at least. I should be, angry, he's responsible for the PTSD dad suffered from for years. He's to blame for countless deaths across the nine realms... He's.. Somehow not letting me invoke that anger. I should be killing him already, it's what I've wanted to do for years, isn't it? Am I all of a sudden not blaming him for anything? No, that's not quite right, I do blame him, I'm just not sure if it's my blame to give. After all, he's never done anything to me, personally, I've just been channelling the anger of everyone around me towards enemy number one. And isn't that one hell of a revelation to make.

Fact still stands that Loki is here, sitting in front of me in a void of nothingness. And somehow, I'm here too.

"I guess my enchantment was more powerful than I first thought." Loki speaks up, voice a little ragged, as if he hasn't drank for a few days. He mutters the words to himself, almost amused. "Maybe the tables really have turned." Loki's looking right at me, barely seeming to acknowledge me as a person at all but instead a means to an end. A twisted smile is plastered onto his face, a look like that could easily make me believe this is the mad villain I've heard about.

"What the hell have you done!? Where am I? Take me back now, this instant." I shout, deciding to play the distraught teenager. Loki pretends not to hear me. "Now." I repeat, more firmly this time, but again, Loki pays no attention. He seems to be studying me, taking in my every feature, trying to read me as if I'm a book. Luckily, I've learnt how to mask my emotions pretty well, half because I live with Natasha, and half because I have some pretty twisted emotions that don't befit the daughter of two superheroes, I could never let the Avengers find out I'm more than a little morally ambiguous at heart, I mean at least Tasha had a legitimate excuse - Mind control. I, on the other hand, do not have anything but my own mind to blame.

"Which realm have we got before us here? We can rule out Jotunheim, along with Muspelheim, for obvious reasons, unless you are hiding behind some cloaking spell. Asgardian perhaps? Yes, you seem Asgardian, I can tell a spell weaver when I see one." My brows crinkle with obvious confusion, a spell weaver? Me? I am neither a cheap magician, nor am I a sorceress, and I'm certainly not Asgardian. Yet, I decide not to tell him any of this, let him carry on with his guessing, it might give me a chance to find an escape.

"Unless... You could be Midgardian. Yes, Midgardian or Asgardian. The question is which." He's outright talking to himself now, seemingly forgetting I'm even here, "For all I know you might just be Marwoleana trying another one of her illusions on me." He pauses, squints, as if that'll make a difference, then relaxes slightly. "Nope, no illusion here-" I cut across before he can carry on, getting the feeling he's not going to stop babbling any time soon.

"I'm not Asgardian, I'm Midgardian, okay? Now tell me what the hell is going on, including how you're alive," I snap, "Then, why you seem to have dragged me here through some of your magical ju-ju and once you're done, take me back. No funny stuff." A moment later I add, "And what do you mean spell weaver?"

Loki looks at me for a second, at me, not through me. He seems taken aback by my authoritative tone, and probably about the whole 'I'm from Earth part'. His senses are obviously a little off today, I am Midgardian, not some Asgardian spell weaver, though I'll take it as a compliment he thought that I'm from a realm full of Gods and Goddesses. I have to admit, I'm curious to hear what he has to say, how he's managed to fake his death for so long, even for a Trickster God, it's some feat.

"I'm afraid that's a long story and we do not have much time. Midgardian makes things a little harder I guess, however you talk as if you know of me and the Asgardians which implies you may know my dear older brother." I nod hesitantly, confirming his suspicions, but I don't elaborate or let on as to how well I know Thor.

"Fine, fine, just tell me what you want me to do, just bear in mind I probably won't do it, unless you want me to go tell your brother you're still alive and well," I glance at Loki taking in his hollow cheeks, the dark circles under his eyes as well as the rest of his state, then decide to rephrase my comment, "alive and, urgh, alive." Regardless of what he says, of course I'm going to be letting Thor know that Loki is still alive. I expect Loki to be worried at my threat, he could indeed call my bluff since for once I'm telling the absolute truth, but he doesn't look at all phased.

"Do what you will where it concerns my brother, but it is imperative that you do what I tell you, the fate of the universe will depend on it." Wow, the fate of the universe, I think sarcastically, this guy really has that dramatic over-exaggeration thing going on. He can probably see the scepticism on my features but carries on talking regardless.

"After talking to Marwoleana," I'm about to interrupt again to ask who this Marwoleana is, but he cuts across me before I get the chance, "No, you do not know her, I doubt anyone does so keep questions for the end please." I can tell that by now he's getting a little irritated, maybe he truly believes he's in a race against the clock, I don't though. "I made her reveal how to reverse everything. There is a place, I believe you call it Mount Hercules, in Russia. There you will find a tunnel that leads to the chamber that contains her power source." Loki looks up at me briefly, making sure I'm following, "You must take it to my sceptre, because it has the power of the tesseract, I'm sure you know what to do from there onwards." It's funny how everything seems to be on Midgard, perhaps it's because Earth is at the centre of all the realms, or maybe people thought humans would be too dumb to mess with power sources, who knows?

"You want me to destroy this power?" I ask doubtfully, why would I want to do that? Loki looks up at me, an expression etched upon his face that makes it look as if I'm idiot for even asking, yet he still answers. "Yes, I want you to destroy it, it is imperative that you destroy it." In an exasperated tone. I'm not sure what to make of all this, I expected him to ask me to retrieve something for him, or maybe for him to possess my mind, but instead he wants me to destroy a power source? I guess, that in itself is a dangerous task, if it's anything like the tesseract then breaking it will destroy much more than the container itself. Wait, what am I doing? This is a trickster, a liar, I shouldn't be trusting or believing, even thinking about doing any of this.

I'm on the verge of asking more questions, to try and work out whether to believe him or not, when I'm falling towards the non-floor again, the last thing I see is the face of Loki looking at me as if I'm some pawn in a cosmic game of chess, someone willingly following the fool's orders through though it will inevitably lead to a sacrifice on my behalf.

As I peel my eyes open, feeling more than a little drained, I discover that I'm now tucked in my bed, back in my room, much to my relief. It doesn't cross my mind to wonder how I got into my bed in the first place. Glancing at the clock I see it's nearly midday, shit, I'm late for school! I'm usually a light sleeper, which is why I rarely oversleep. I'm a little surprised that no one woke me up sooner, maybe they think it's my responsibility, or maybe they don't really care. No, father certainly cares about attendance...

Slowly, I climb out of bed, taking a bit of time to steady myself as I stand up. I tip-toe to the edge of my room and peek into the hallway, seeing nobody about, I step out fully. As I slip into the back of the main living room, I see that the reason no one was roaming about is because everyone has gathered at the far end of the room, even Natasha, who I thought was on another mission in France. Something must have happened overnight, something big, I a little annoyed that, as per usual, they've not bothered to inform me of the danger.

"Hey, what's got you all so tensed up?" I ask for lack of a witty comment, as I pretend to walk in obliviously. Everyone turns to look at me simultaneously, all with mixed emotions on their faces, varying from anger to relief.

"Dani! You're okay, thank God." Aunt Natasha says as she walks overto hug me. Surprisingly, Natasha isn't a hardass spy 24/7, but then again, she doesn't normally get this welcoming. Wait, am I in some kind of trouble now? Is that why half the group is glaring at me? I can't think of anything I've done recently that's any worse than usual, actually apart from going into Dad's lab last night I've been on surprisingly good behaviour.

"Ye... If someone could explain to me what's going on? Preferably quite quickly, it's Monday, the first day of the summer term and I'm late." Easter was late this year, so the holidays were also a few weeks later than usual. Everyone knew I hated being late, especially on first days.

"Monday? Danielle, it's not Monday." Thor states, brows furrowed slightly in confusion. I look at him dubiously, of course it's Monday. I clearly remember falling into the weird enchanted sleep on Sunday night, common sense dictates that today is a Monday.

"Yes it is." I'm really not in the mood for joking, I'm tired, I'm late and I've just learnt the guy I thought was alive but everyone else thought was dead, is actually not. Speaking of Loki, I should probably tell them about that. But when I look up none of the faces look very cheerful, actually they're all turning down right angry, maybe I should keep this information to myself until they calm down.

"No it isn't, it is the 8th of May, a Sunday." Thor tells me, completely seriously. That can't be right, if it is then that meant I've been asleep for a week! I've heard of oversleeping before but this bridges on a whole new level to the meaning. I look up to father, over Natasha's shoulder, who has slowly pulled away.

Suddenly, dad starts talking about the fact there are camera's all over the house and that JARVIS keeps him updated about people going in and out of the private rooms. I'd forgotten about that, in my hurry to go into dad's workshop I didn't ask Jarvis to change or disable the camera's he has for each room. Luckily, I don't think there are any on the stairs so no one will be learning of my ballet dancing today.

"So Dani, when you decide to walk into the lab and go taking confidential S.H.I.E.L.D. folders filled with confidential information you must realize I'm going to be a tad angry. But I think you could start with explaining this to us." Dad turns on one of the large, glass flat screen TV's showing a view of my bedroom starting just as I walk into my room after returning the folder, going to wipe the blood off, then the large flash of green. From this angle I can see just how bright it was, it was like a firework went off. At the time I only glimpsed the fading wisps or dark green. Then there's my voice, talking to myself, wow, I sound different on video, but not that bad. After that is me walking into my bedroom, but I already know what's going to happen next and from the looks of it so does everyone else, probably after watching the video a few times. All they'll see was me falling to the floor, nothing else, I reassure myself, thinking back to see if I actually mentioned Loki's name in that dream, no I don't think I did.

My lip curls up in distaste. My room is supposed to be private, I've already dealt with one camera that was placed for surveillance, it seems I'll have to deal with another. It's understandable that they want to keep an eye on me, Stark Tower is always a target, but seriously, my bedroom.

Again, by looking at me from this angle I can see it wasn't just my hands that glowed green, the rest of me also has a very faint crimson glow, like dying embers on a fire. Unlike the green fading magic which originated from Loki this seems to be actually coming from me.

Next you can see me falling to the floor as if I just fainted, I wince a little at the 'thud' which signals me hitting the floor. Even as I sleep I am surrounded in a faint red glow as well as a faded green silhouette - Loki - sitting in the same position he had been in the dream, though on this it appears to be against my bed.

For the next few seconds of the video, right after I fell asleep, I was perfectly still but then just as I feared, I start talking. It's barely a mumble really, and from the one sided conversation you can't determine most of the conversation, not that piecing everything together would be much of a stretch especially with the talk of the realms. The fact I use the words 'brother' and 'still alive' isn't very promising either. Except, that would withdraw the need for me to decide when (or if) to mention that, why yes, your long lost brother is alive Thor. It's not like I'm going to do what Loki wants anyway. But when I actually take a moment to ponder upon it I find I do, sort of, want to do it.

When I take a few more moments I realise that, yes, I really do want to do this, and isn't that a worrying thought. It feels like some inner compulsion, because Loki has asked me, so what's the harm. (I really hope I'm not slowly getting mind whammied right now.) There are other reasons too, I'm not some little minion to be used at a stranger's request, there's plenty in it for me too. When I succeed I can come clean, to the avengers, to S.H.I.E.L.D., prove that I've been helping all along, they won't need to keep me out of the loop.

On the other hand, I won't so much be helping S.H.I.E.L.D. instead I'll be ridding them of the sceptre they've spent years trying to study, without much luck. I'll also be destroying a power source, if I go through with the whole assignment that is, and possibly the tesseract too, it'll take some serious juice to cancel out a power source.

S.H.I.E.L.D. hasn't been in possession of the tesseract for long, it was brought here when it was found that the keeper of it was not as loyal and trustworthy as he first seemed, at least, that's what Thor told them. Even so, I'm sure I'll be forgiven if I save the universe in the process. Even now, I'm not at all sure if Loki was lying or not, but I'm not willing to take the risk, I am one of the idiots who live in this galaxy, it needs to be here for that to continue. And with the possible gain in this for me too if he's lying, it's worth a shot. Unless it's all a trap, albeit a very elaborate one. I guess that's a risk I'll have to take.

The video stops after video-me falls silent, presumable that's when the dream ended. So this is going to be a tricky one to get out of.

"This is magic, that much I know, magic like that is visibly recognisable." Thor states as a confirmation to the group, even if he's probably already confirmed it, are they trying to intimidate me passive aggressively or something? Everyone turns to face me again, waiting for me to explain what the whole scene was all about. When I don't say anything dad gets angry, you can tell by the way his fists just barely tighten and the veins in his forearms pop out, he looks as if he's been drinking again, no surprise there. Natasha, who's been watching the video from my side, retreats back to the others and sits between Clint and Bruce on the sofa. Now it definitely feels like people are picking sides, and these are two very unfair teams.

Me, alone on one side, the bad guy, the one in the wrong. Everyone else, facing me, seemingly disappointed, maybe they've pieced everything together already and they think I'm helping Loki take over the world again! Calm down, they all think he's dead. I remind myself that I'm jumping to conclusions again, these people are my family, they'd never think something like that. Just take a few deep breaths and they'll believe everything you say, you can explain things fully later. Yet I know it's a bas lie before any words leave my mouth I should own up now, they'll investigate and I won't get in any trouble. Yeah... No. No, I don't think that's how it'll go. If I own up to speaking with the trickster, it'll only mean more questions, and they'll never do anything, because who will believe anything a liar says? Even if guessing wrong could mean the death of a planet.

I try brushing it off as a normal dream but I can tell no one's convinced with my excuse. I haven't had time to prepare a story, I can't explain any of this, magical meetings aren't normal and everybody here knows it. I can lie like the best of them but I can already tell from the look in their eyes that I'm going to be condemned no matter what I say.

I can't explain the magic, magic died on Midgard a very long time ago, so, by process of deduction, this was no normal dream. From looking at the video you can tell it was more like a meeting. A meeting between me and a possible hostile. I can see it in their faces, the happiness that I'm finally awake has left, leaving only the doubt and concern, the distrust. They've probably spent this whole week believing I've been in some mental conference, Thor said some of the spell weavers used to mentally transport themselves, or other people to an astral plane when they urgently needed to talk, these meetings could continue for minutes or in some cases, weeks. So I do see how this might look incriminating.

"Fine, since I can't give you the explanation you want to hear why don't one of you tell me, I can see you all have your theories." I snap when it becomes obvious nothing I'm saying is getting through. I slowly pan my gaze across the group, daring anyone to try and talk. The anger I feel right now could probably dwarf even Thor's, I can practically hear the blood tushing through my veins. Is it really so easy to believe I can swap sides so quickly? That I would go behind their backs with someone from some other realm to plot their demise? Because I know that's what they're all thinking, naturally, people always jumo to the worse possible scenario, nothing less will be true until proven so.

The Avengers just sit there, no one saying anything, my false explanations have no doubt only served to make me seem even more suspicious, yet how can they just sit there silently, judgy little eyes staring at me, trying to read me. Are they really presuming that I've turned on them? Why are all six of them still not saying anything? For once, I don't think I'm reading too much into anything, every second of their silence is condemning me, adding weight to the scales judging my morality.

After everything I've been doing in these past months, after all the help I've been giving them... Granted they don't know it's me who's been helping them, but my parents should recognise the work of their daughter, no matter has unlikely, shouldn't they? I know I can't really blame them, but that doesn't mean I won't.

Still, none of them speak up in my defence. I feel like I've been sentenced for a crime I haven't committed even if I am an accessory to it. Tension is most definitely present in the air, as is their doubt. None of them want to be the one tonslam that hammer onto the table but I have lied in their court and evidence has been presented against me. So I guess I've been damned. And now it's time for the trial to begin. Which is why I need to go to Mt. Hercules and find my proof of innocence.

I turn slowly and walk away, half worried that one of the six will follow me. But none do, they are frozen in place by the whispers in their head fuelling their doubt, whispers which are weaving lies about me. As I reach the doorway I turn around briefly, making sure they see the disappointment I feel right now towards them, clearly. Now is going to be the best opportunity, before they press the issue any further, before things get out of hand, before I have a chance to tell them the truth.

As soon as I'm our of sight the talking begins, they probably don't realise their voices carry. I pause to listen in.

"She's hiding something..." Followed by an agreement and more comments like, "We need to keep a close eye on her," okay, understandable. The comments which follow only get worse, I can't tell who's saying what but I hear someone hiss "I can't believe she's working for the enemy, never had her down for a power hungry villain." The comment's harsh and blunt and completely out of order, but no one comes to my defence, no one says anything to oppose the final whisper. I am too angry to be sad and feel any kind of guilt or remorse for what I'm about to do, for going behind their backs once again even after convincing myself I would come clean. I understand why they're suspicious, especially with magical shadows in the mix and my poor cover up, nevertheless this is extreme paranoia. I know if I give them a few hours to stew that they'll see sense but I'm tired of being left out in this family, just because I'm away a lot, because I was mentally abducted and then proceeded to lie to them, doesn't mean I'm evil, I thought trust ran deeper than that.

When I reach my room, which I half jogged to, I get my red duffle bag out from the shelf at the top of my wardrobe. Mount Hercules kind of implies that it's a mountain, so I pick up practical clothes for hiking, which consists of a white tank top as well as white, sports three quarters and trainers. A black leather jacket, a pair of sandals - and yes by my standards, I call this practical it's not like i'm going to get blisters with the super serum running through my veins, even if it isn't as potent as it is in father.

I still end up with room for more clothes so I stuff some random things in there, socks, underwear, more tank tops, jeans, fleece, and the odd dress is added to, with the appropriate shoes, I don't know how long I'm going to be gone for or when I'll feel calm enough to return. Next I get my little make up bag, glancing in I check that it still has the essentials, toothbrush, hairbrush.

Closing the zip to the pocket in the duffle bag that now contains the toiletries, I walk back over to my wardrobe. I'm just about to grab my last things when I remember Jarvis, who, by the way, I'm not going to trust with a secret again.

"Jarvis, please disable all cameras, sensors and microphones you have watching me, keep them disabled until I leave. No alerting dad of this." Deciding to be obedient again, he does what I ask, or at least claims to. _Now_ I can get the last few things I need.

Sliding out the panel right at the bottom left corner of my wardrobe, I open the secret compartment. It's been a good few weeks since I've needed anything from here, but now it's time for them to make an appearnce again. The things tucked away sort of remind me of what Q gives James Bond before one of his missions, except mine are better, and mine.

The first thing I grab is a small rod the size of a pen, and almost as thin, there is a button in the centre that, when pressed, lengthens the rod to it's full length, - just over a metre. Made from a strong metal, I don't have to worry about it breaking during combat. Next are two grenades I've swiped from dad's stash of old confiscated weapons, the ones he used to make before his reformenent. If I get into trouble in the tunnels, hopefully the grenades should be enough to get me out, or stuck in, it really could go either way.

I carefully place the grenades on the floor by my side and grab my trusty pistol, checking it has enough ammo as I do. I remember a time where I thought having so many different weapons was overkill, but after going on some private assignments - telling my parents I'm 'staying at a friend's house' - I quickly realised you need to be defended, and every mission calls for something different.

I reach further into the compartment and grab my belt, which is more of a sheath, since I keep my knives in it. Knife throwing is another secret hobby of mine, one I enjoy very much. I clip the grenades onto one side, taking care not to actually activate either of them, getting blown to bits isn't on my to-do list for the day.

Realising I'm still in the clothes I fell asleep in, I pick up some skinny jeans, yet another tank top, and some converse, all in black of course, and hurriedly get changed. Then I slip my sheath over the leather jacket I'm wearing, trying to cover the grenades and knives. I keep the hood down for now, knowing it will be annoying more than anything else.

Lastly, I reach into the comparmeent and tentatively withdraw my prized weapon, a katana blade. When it comes to fightin I have to admit I prefer the old fashioned way, hand-to-hand or a good sword will never fail you. This particular blade can't be too old, not from the condition it's been in since I acquired it a few months ago, though, now I think about it, my memory's a little foggy about how it actually came to be in my possession. Regardless, it's an excellent blade, beautiful in its own deadly way, amazingly crafted, and well balanced, I would be hard pressed to find another of this quality on this side of the planet.

I spend a while trying to figure out how to conceal the Katana, it's not exactly an inconspicuous item to carry around, especially if you're not wearing a trench coat. After a while I just sling it over my shoulder using an over the shoulder holster to keep it in place, even so, it's still uncomfortable carrying a katana sword concealed down behind your back when it's meant to be hanging from your waist, still, it's the price to pay for such an awesome weapon, I have free movement and that's what matters.

Finally ready to go, I sling the red duffle bag over free shoulder and take an almost mournful look at my room - somehow I feel as if I'm taking a more permanent leave than I'm actually planning, which is a silly thought, I'll be gone a couple weeks, tops.

My eyes fall upon the photograph of Loki, I'm surprised no one has taken it, perhaps it wasn't noticed, being half tucked beneath the bed and all. I walk over and pick it up.

"You are the reason I'm doing this, so it better not be a stupid trick or I will kill you, believe me it won't be pretty." I threaten as I look at the image, I know he's not actually listening, but saying it out loud, albeit to a copy, make my words feel like a promise. I still don't understand why I feel like I need to do this, why didn't I just tell everyone what had happened, that would have been so much simpler. Instead, I'm left feeling compelled to go on a stupid quest, all for some bastard who I'm supposed to hate but actually don't have much of an opinion on, some guy I don't know at all except through stories of the horrors he put my family through.

Anger once again tries to rear its head - the joys of having teenage moodswings - and suddenly I decide there's no need for my discretion, the avengers all seem to now think of me the enemy so why not act like I am? On another note, I guess I'll have to wave goodbye to the D.I.G.I.T.A.L. suit dad had planned on making for me at some point, never mind, I'll make it myself, should be easy enough, dad isn't the only engineer in the world.

When I get down to the living room I see that everyone is still sitting in much the same positions as they were when I left the room some twenty minutes ago. As soon as I enter the room, all conversation stops, allowing an awkward silence to swamp the air. Even Natasha now looks at me with an air of distrust, something she's never done before, how can so much change in the space of a half hour? It seems to me that everyone's being over-dramatic, this isn't how things happen in real life. Families don't just turn against you like this, not even in movies, and definitely not in reality. Then again, this doesn't feel like reality, looking at my loved ones but strangers looking back. Because that's what they are right now, strangers. Strangers who are acting completely out of character.

"Where are you going?" Dad asks, his tone is more incredulous than questioning, and his words are slurring a little. The half empty bottle of whiskey to his left provides the answer to my unvoiced question. No one stands up from where they're sat, I wonder if they'll even try to pursue me after I leave. I don't think they will, not during the middle of the day, into the broad daylight where everyone can see, I can only imagine the harassment off the media if the Avengers are seen trying - and hopefully failing - to capture a fourteen year old, a seemingly innocent girl who is the daughter of two of the Avengers themselves. The scandal. Then again, Stark scandal is hardly anything new.

Father's eyes dart to my left, it's then I realise he's noticed the sheath of knives and grenades I'm wearing. Quickly, I zip up the jacket, hiding the sheath. And they haven't even seen the sword yet. Except they have, because of the angle I'm standing in, I've unwittingly let them see the tip of the sheath, enough for them to identify it as a sword._ You idiot Dani, why didn't you put your hood up?_ No one knew about my assortment of weapons, not these ones at least. Now, of course, the secret stash isn't all that secret, there's nothing I can do about it now though, I hardly doubt they're all that surprised anyway, I'm me after all, I love me some sharp and dangerous objects.

I remind myself that the avengers all have to believe I'm serious about leaving, that they can't stop me no matter what they do, if not they'll try and keep me here, will stop me from leaving the tower, that's not an option, not when more than just their trust in me hangs in the balance. When everything's sorted I'll return and my family will see I've only been protecting them, sure, I won't have anyone to vouch for me, but by the time I get back they'll have calmed down and will believe my words.

With that thought in mind I unsheath my sword, trying not to wince at the startled expressions I'm greeted with, they don't actually think I'm going to use this on them? Do they? Who am I kidding, of course they do, because apparently I'm untrustworthy.

The blade glints in the sunlight as I move into a defensive stance. It masks the green coloured engraving on the blade itself; a Japanese style dragon above some Norse runes. It was one of the first things that I noticed about the Katanga, not exactly a conventional combination, makes me wonder if this katana is not completely Midgardian, it would explain the quality. The blade itself, the design, the red leather binding on the grip, all of it's exquisite.

I let my eyes sweep over the gathered group again, still no one is getting up, is that a good or a bad sign? Dad's hand twitches towards the bottle of alcohol but after a pointed glance from Natasha he stills again, it seems they've all decided on a course of action already. I sigh dissapointedly before straightening up and bolting towards the stairs, at least they've made leaving easy for me.

I would have taken the elevator, but it'll be just my luck to encounter a problem on the way down. So, instead I opt for the manual route, even though it means trailing down flights upon flights of stairs.

Just before starting down the first step I turn, I can still just about see everyone sitting there, pointedly ignoring me but ready to burst into action, _so out of it,_ I tell myself once more as I frown. If the avengers think they're the ones being betrayed, well, they've got another thing heading their way. But I'm never going to trust them the same way again, that's for sure. Before I let myself get too soppy I remember I'm supposed to be 'running away', so I begin sprinting down the stairs, taking the stairs three at a time.

**[A/N: I've been editing this but if you see any spelling mistakes I missed, please tell me about them. Other than that, enjoy!]**


	6. Chapter 6

**Muspelheim 2028**

"He must be near, see there is the lone house that was spoken of." Sif said, pointing with her sword towards a tiny shack, the only structure that stood on the vast dried lava plane. Her and the Warriors Three had decided to slip one of Sif's handy truth serum potions in the mead of the person impersonating the Allfather, from there it was a simple task to ask where the real Allfather was and for Heimdall to use the Bifrost to take them to the site, it had all taken but a few hours.

They burst through the door to find Odin sitting calmly, reading on what looked like a bed. Sif did not know how long the Allfather had been here but was surprised by how calm he looked, it was as if he expected her and the warriors three to walk in right that minute.

"Ah, about time." Odin said gruffly, getting up and gathering the few items he had scattered across the table, "I've been waiting long enough. Off back to Asgard now?" Sif was also surprised that the Allfather had not succumbed to Odinsleep, in fact he seemed the healthiest he'd been in for years, even though he was stuck in a hot, barren wasteland.

"If you wouldn't mind Allfather, perhaps you could elaborate a little as to why there is someone impersonating you?" Sif said boldly, unsure whether it was a good move or a bad one to not immediately follow his orders. The Allfather nodded understandably before sitting on the edge of the bed again, gesturing for the four warriors to sit at the small table.

"I have been here for what must be nearly fifteen years." Which was the same as about fifteen Midgardian years, since it was only on Asgard that time flowed differently to other realms, "Thor had released Loki, thanks to you four I hear." He said bitterly, obviously thinking it was a terrible idea for them to have set the Prince free.

"A guard came back confirming the death of Loki but as I feared Loki had used trickery and illusions and in fact had _not_ died. I was caught by surprise, I did not realise how much his powers had grown therefore I did not have the means to counteract his magic which sent me, here." Odin gestured to the little hut. Sif was surprised he'd managed to fend for himself all this time among the savages that were the fire giants, but he did have Gungnir with him which meant he could use the magic from that to conjure up food, though without being a sorcerer himself he would not have been able to do anything but beginners magic. Sif was also ashamed that for over sixty Asgardian years she had been fooled by the tricks of the disgraced Prince that they'd believed to be dead for that same time, she could tell that the other warriors felt the same way.

"Now, for you to tell me what has happened in accordance to the other realms, as you can imagine I have not been very well informed during my time here." The Allfather stated matter-of-factly with no hint of bitterness or anger in his voice. Volstagg, the best out of the four when it came to telling their tales, took over the conversation explaining the state of the other realms, that everything - for the first time since the war with Jotunheim - had returned to peaceful normality, and then went on to explain the change in behaviour they'd all seen that had led to suspicion which in turn led them to finding the Allfather.

None of the warriors had realised that Loki was the imposter, obviously his sharpness was not as good as it used to be otherwise he wouldn't have been so careless as to drink the truth serum unknowingly, but the obvious conclusion was that Loki was the imposter though no one had actually said the words.

Time passed as they spoke of important events, the volcano eruption that signalled the start of the day passed as did the one that signalled night had now fallen though by looking into the sky you would not have been able to tell. The sky itself was a shade somewhere between red and black, which reflected the land surrounding them, in essence a large volcano. The people of Muspelheim were no different to their surroundings, they were the second realm of giants, only they were thought of as worse than even the mortal realms. Fire giants were the same as frost giants only the ice was replaced with fire, they were both tall, lived for thousands of years and had the carving like patterns over their bodies, Sif had seen the odd fire giant on occasion but never more than a fleeting glance, Asgard dealt no business with Muspelheim, they both left each other well alone.

The use of the Bifrost had - as expected - attracted attention from some of the local who could be seen walking over one of the hills towards their direction. Sif let the flimsy bit of fabric that was a curtain fall back to cover the window before turning to the rest of the group.

"I think it is now time for us to take our leave." Sif walked outside the shack, hand on the hilt of her sword as the fire giants fast approached. She knew they couldn't be far from the palace and the people walking towards them were probably guards.

"Quite right." Fandral agreed upon seeing a second row of fire giants heading their way. Everyone waited for Odin to call upon Heimdall but he didn't, upon everyone's confusion he explained.

"My presence is cloaked with magic, Heimdall will not be able to hear me." Yes, otherwise he would have came back long ago. Sif was surprised that Loki had been able to hold the cloaking spell for so long, it was a remarkable feat especially considering it was an inter-realm enchantment. Sif then decided to call upon Heimdall herself wondering what they would be walking back to. Time flowed at a faster pace in Asgard, the only of the immortal realms that did so, by her reckoning roughly a week would have passed and the Prince would surely be angry that he'd been found out and would advance whatever plans he seemed to have.

She felt a sudden pull as the rainbow bridge engulfed them, bringing the five of them back to Asgard. Heimdall was standing in his usual place looking pitifully at the five of them, nodding his head towards Odin. Only then did it strike her that though an imposter it may be Heimdall had pledged to serve him in one of their large events, Heimdall was not one to break his word.

"See what treachery is this that they bring this imposter with them to fool you all!" Sif heard someone - Loki - shout whilst pointing at them. He was not in the form of Odin any longer, he was now in his own form, his long horned helmet sitting proudly on top of his head. She would have expected everyone to welcome their real king but they all seemed to hang onto Loki's every word, believing everything that came out of the Liesmith's mouth.

The observatory was swarmed with guards who came, two at a time to subdue the five Asgardians standing before them, each guard holding onto one of the captive's arm in a firm manner. Everyone looked slightly odd, as if they felt a little out of it, Loki must have placed an enchantment on them! Except that couldn't be possible, no spell weaver had ever been able to place an enchantment on an entire realm before, especially the realm of the Asgardians, who were more resistant to any spell's directed at them.

The Warriors Three looked ready to fight but Sif shook her head, it would not help anyone if they started to look even more like the supposed traitors they were. So, instead they walked willingly as captives to the dungeons reserved for the worst prisoners, the very same cell that Loki had been in before they'd rescued him.

**Loki's dream/illusion thing**

I hadn't realised how strong the enchantment I'd sent out was, not only did it actually work but I seemed to have attached a meeting spell to it too. I only hoped that there was no one around to see her when the enchantment took her, no doubt there's be my shadow figure there too, not that I cared for the girl only that it would be an inconvenience if the Midgardian had to waste time answering unnecessary questions she probably didn't know the answers too.

I really had thought she was an Asgardian, she spoke like one, using words like Bifrost instead of the Einstein-Rosenberg bridge which the Midgardians called it, a stupidly long name. And I could also sense the magic on her, I presumed she was from Asgard because the magic of the realm would cling to her even if she wasn't a sorceress herself. The fact that she then stated she was from Midgard was most confusing, people from Midgard did not possess the abilities of a spell weaver, not any more, the limited magic the people once used had now flowed back into the land.

It did not matter though, this human was a mere pawn in my plans to be free, she was beneath me, just like every other creature living on Midgard. Maybe my spell had sought her out? Out of everyone on Midgard, - which was where the ingredients needed for my freedom were - she might be the most suited but if that was true then Midgard truly was a pitiful realm. At least she knew of Asgard and of the magic, she obviously knew of me two, and from the sounds of it _personally_ knew my brother. That could only mean she was helping the Avengers, though I had said I did not care whether she told anyone that I was in fact not dead I did care, not for sentimental reasons, purely for the fact no one would be happy of it. They would try to stop the child - again, why did my enchantment seek out a Midgardian _child_? A child would be very ill-equipped to have the fate of the universe, and more importantly myself, resting on her shoulders - from reaching the power source that had been home to Marwoleana and from getting the scepter, which was no doubt under the protection of the Avengers.

When I thought about it maybe she was a prim choice for the job, she obviously knew the Avengers well, they probably trusted her... She could easily retrieve my scepter, and possibly the power source. Still, I was not sure, I trusted my magic to make the right choice so I decided to let the matter slide, for now.

My next priority was Marwoleana herself, after forcing information out of her, thanks to the truth serum she now knew I was not going to submit to being used by her, this whole possession had gone on for long enough. She said she truly had possessed me, so by my reckoning she couldn't harm me without harming herself, at least that's what I hoped. Though I imagine if she did something to kill me, say tried to jump of the Bifrost - which would surely kill the person jumping, though it had never happened before so I wouldn't know - I would be dead and she would return to the power, but the time to take action was fast approaching, she wouldn't take the risk when there was so much to lose, and so much to gain.

Regardless, Marwoleana seemed to have a soft spot for me, though I couldn't imagine why, before she possessed me I had never seen her before in my life. That didn't mean she couldn't use mental means to make me suffer, the way she was always taunting, hinting, describing what she said she had done and that in the end it wouldn't be her that got the blame for anything, it would be me that would have to carry the burden of distrust, though that was only if I survived to get my freedom.

I was pulled into another dream, or illusion, it depended on which way you looked at it. I was pleasantly surprised that she didn't seem at all angry at me, maybe she really did have some idea that I would be sitting by her side when all this was over, did I need to remind her she didn't even have a solid form, that would make ruling the nine known realms a little awkward, yet easier in some ways, it's not as if anything would be able to physically wound her, at least not directly, she was a being made up of magic therefore only magic could stop her, that's why I had sent the young Midgardian to get my staff, though the tesseract itself would have been better I thought that would be a big ask even for this situation.

We exchanged pleasantries, what we did to keep up the illusion that we were perfectly satisfied with each other's company, it struck me that not only was she my only company I was probably the same for her. Being an evil, old and extremely powerful power source that was executing a diabolical plan, well it didn't get you that many friends, the only thing other people were good for was getting in the way and ruining the plan, better to go it alone, at least if you were the supposed antagonist in the plot.

"Are you quite alright?" I asked cautiously. Something had changed in her attitude, she was no longer looking at me as she had before, it was as if now that I knew what she had planned for me she could openly look at me with, what, Awe? No, more like admiration, again, I couldn't see what I had done to earn these feelings off her, I certainly did not appreciate her feeling these things towards me.I'd never been one for these 'feels' people had, they were a distraction, they would pull you away from your goal and what fleeting happiness you would trick yourself into feeling would surely disappear sooner or later, that was a lesson I'd learned very early on.

"Pardon?", Marwoleana looked up at me, "Oh, yes, I'm fine." She'd lost her air of superiority, she was now so weak, much the opposite of what you would need to be in this stage of a plan. She reminded me very much of Sigyn now. Sigyn, one of my wives - still a wife since Asgard had no form of divorce in the realm - was very weak in character. I'd tricked her into marrying me, merely because I wanted her, when she rejected me it merely made me want her more, she had the nerve to deny me something I wanted, so I took her my own way. Quickly, I'd grown bored of her, as you would an old toy, she was beautiful but other than that she was a vain, weak excuse for an Asgardian. All she cared about was clothes, and children and other girlish things, so I'd discarded her, ignored her, thankfully Sigyn had got the hint and quickly left my palace after that.

Marwoleana was just that, the old toy, waiting to be discarded. No, she was worse than that, she was the toy that the friend of a friend had given to you, not because they cared for you, merely because it was courtesy, Marwoleana was the toy you never wanted to begin with. She didn't get much sleep because it seemed like a matter of minutes before I was back in the darkness again, at least here I could think freely, that at least was a freedom I had not had in hundreds of years, as a youngster I used to stay with Thor but as he and I grew older Thor's hugs were no longer brotherly, they hurt me - though I didn't think that was intentional - Thor's friends did not like me so took Thor away from me, Mother and Father drew back, leaving me alone, left to deal with everything on my own. Anyway, now was not the time to think about that, not whilst I was alone, it never did anyone any good to only have their thoughts for company so long, I was already set on my vengeance, that was al I needed to think about, to think about what I would make everyone else feel for what they did to me.

**A friend's house 10/5/28**

"So, Dani returns. What brings you here this time?" My friend, Michael asked upon seeing me set for another assignment. We'd crossed paths a few times, from there had helped each other out when we could.

"Came to call in a favour actually." I called as I walked up the path that led to his house. He gestured for me to come inside, I smiled warmly before walking inside. Michael didn't live too far from Stark Tower, a pleasant surprise when we found out how close we'd lived to each other.

Michael, who was in his late twenties, was a pilot in one of the more special forces. I'd never pried but from what I could tell it was no ordinary special forces team he was part of, likewise, he'd never asked more than was welcome when it came to what I, a fourteen - nearly fifteen, eight days and counting - was doing in the middle of what was - or had been until I arrived - a terrorist gang, in all fairness that day I had been a little angrier than usual, I couldn't help it if they hadn't surrendered when I gave them the chance. Anyway, we'd got closer since then, never really more than a friendly co-worker type friendship, but one of my few friends nonetheless.

"A favour?" Michael replied in a friendly manner, pretending to be completely shocked that I could ask for such a thing. I playfully punched him on his arm, "Hey, cut it out, it's only a favour." We went to the kitchen where he turned the kettle on.

"Tea or coffee?" He asked over his shoulder, I just stared at him, surely he knew by now I'd always pick coffee over tea, I always picked coffee over tea, especially if the coffee in question was a Starbucks. "Right, ye." He muttered before getting the mugs out, coffee for me, tea for him.

I looked round the kitchen, it'd been a couple months since I'd seen him last and the only change in the kitchen was the arrangement of fruit in the fruit bowl, everyone else had stayed exactly the same, literally, he'd probably spent a lot of time on some ops recently, he was always busier around April time, maybe people thought April was the month to be villainous, _apparently you would know_ I thought to myself bitterly.

The kitchen itself was quite cosy, though it lacked a feminine touch. Clean, white counter top, stone wall and a complete glass wall that showed a lovely view of his large garden, part of which was an orchard. I wasn't quite sure why Michael had chosen to live here, he didn't seem like the type to read books under an apple tree, or the type to like cosy little kitchens, I guess there was more to Michael than met the eye.

He placed a steaming mug of coffee in front of me, which I gratefully took after gently putting my bag down. He could tell there was something amiss, I never turned up unannounced, I'd always at least call in advance, that was how I was when it came to business.

"Spill." He said simply, waiting for me to talk about what was bothering me. I'd never really been one for talking about these horrible feels I sometimes felt, to be honest feelings rather annoyed me, they were a distraction that would keep me from being the best I could be, I didn't need someone to 'complete me'. Also these stupid notions of love and needing that other person to make them whole, ye, well screw that, I wasn't planning on even giving love a second glance any time soon - or ever.

I looked up at Michael then sighed before beginning my story, being sure to alter things I didn't want him to know.

"Well, a week or so ago I was snooping around my Dad'd stuff, you know how it is." He nodded, I continued, "I came upon a file... One I rather regret seeing now... The file had something on it that made me seem like one of the bad guys, and the Avengers decided to confront me about it. Except, I'd learnt something after reading the file so I couldn't tell them the truth, again, you know how it is. All in all my own _family_ now think I'm part of the rehash of the New York incident, except they seem to think that I'm partnering up with the bad guys and ditching all of them." I felt my feels starting to emerge and pushed them away, putting my guard up again, I couldn't let myself get sentimental, I could leave that until later, until I could see the faces of the people who'd betrayed me and I could see them regret their assumptions. I smiled, for once thinking that causing them pain would bring me happiness, then I widened my eyes, maybe I really was becoming a little...

"Still doesn't explain anything to do with the favour." Michael voiced, I took a sip of my coffee before carrying on.

"Ye, I need to to fly me to Mount Hercules in Russia." Michael narrowed his eyes, he obviously knew something about there that I didn't.

"Mount Hercules?" He asked. "You sure?" I sighed in exasperation and frustration.

"Yes, I need to go to Mount fucking Hercules, and because of all the times I've helped you out you can do this one tiny thing for me, you're a pilot that's what you do. Okay?" I said in a burst of anger, a little louder than was needed. I glared at Michael as he sat silently, finishing his Tetley tea. He took one last gulp before taking both mugs away, mine still half full, to the sink.

"Don't get angry with me now, I never said I wouldn't do it. Just there's been some dodgy things going on there, my next assignment is actually _at_Mount Hercules, a bit coincidental that you seem to want to go there too, right when suspected Hydra agents have been gathering there, as well as other known terrorists." He better not have been implying what I thought he was implying, because I was in no mood for my only half friend to start doubting me too. I guess today really wasn't my day to keep calm, luckily, to me, being angry was different to those feels I got, feels were things like love, they were bad, anger was just something I felt a lot.

"I don't believe in coincidences. So like I said, can you take me to Mount Hercules? If not, I'll just find someone else too... Wait, did you say Hydra?" I asked only just realising the last half of what he'd said. Hydra had been my father's worst enemy, through the first world war and again when he had woken after spending seventy years as an icicle. From what I'd managed to learn it appeared they had Loki's scepter, I'd learnt this on one of my more recent missions so I hadn't had the chance to tell S.H.I.E.L.D. who assumed it was destroyed, I sure as hell wasn't going to tell them now, if I did they would try to take it and with that my chance of succeeding. Still, I had never actually gone against Hydra myself, they'd spent the last fourteen years recouping, there had been no open attacks since the Winter Soldier and the attempted S.H.I.E.L.D. takeover.

"Yes, I'll take you. You'll have to give me until tomorrow to get everything sorted though. Yes, I said Hydra, S.H.I.E.L.D. aren't the only people tracking them. They're planning something, I just don't know what." Tomorrow. Tomorrow was fine, yes tomorrow was perfectly fine, it wasn't as if I had to do everything in a day, if I did that would be a real accomplishment.

Unfortunately, I had an idea as to why Hydra was gathering it's forces. Loki had said that the power source - very much like the tesseract - was located at Mount Hercules, the scepter was powered by the tesseract, also a large power source, all it would take was for them to find a way to harness the power and world domination on their behalf would really have a chance of succeeding. Even though I considered Michael a friend and we would tell each other information they would need I didn't tell him this, he may have been part of the protection of Midgard but I was the one who had the fate of something even larger than that to deal with. I wasn't even sure why I seemed to trust Loki's words, he was, after all, the Trickster God, I think it was when I looked at him I could see, by that I meant I could _really see_ that he was speaking the truth, or at least what he believed to be the truth.

"Sure, you don't mind if I crash here though?" It was already early evening, I'd spent the afternoon wandering before I'd found myself at Michael's house. Here was a place as good as any to spend the night.

"You're more than welcome."

Though Michael had a large garden and orchard the house itself was rather small. There was his bedroom, the en suite, a kitchen, a dining room and a living room, nothing else. Michael dropped the bag by the sofa and I widened my eyes before remembering that the grenades were around my waste not in the bag, much to my relief. He sat on one end of the sofa as I took my jacket off, the leather now quite warm due to the hot weather in New York. I made no effort to hide my various weapons, unlike I had intended to around the Avengers. Michael had seen me use weapons before but he'd never seen my full collection and seemed a little shock to find a teenager with so many things. First I pulled the sword from behind my back out and placed it on the table, the red sheath shining a little under the glint of the light. Then I carefully placed the two grenades on the table, followed by portable staff - if that's you called it, to me I called it stick, no time to learn the proper term - and my gun. Lastly were my set of six, quite thin, throwing knives. The metal itself had been coloured silver whilst the grip were a deep green, like my katana sword, it was leather like and - to me at least - looked elegant yet deadly, the perfect mix.

"You want to practise?" Michael asked, nodding his head towards the throwing knives. They were one of my main weapons, a sword was not suitable for all fights. I looked outside it was still relatively bright, there was enough time to get some practise in before turning in for the night. I wasn't quite sure where there was to practise though, like I'd said this was a small house.

"You're a knife thrower too?" I asked hopefully. Clint had the accuracy for it but you co u ldn't get him to fight with anything but his arrows, I'd never asked Natasha, because the knife throwing - as well as everything else - up until recently had been secret.

"I have experience, but I'm more of a one to one kind of guy." He replied as I picked up my knives. Michael got up and led me down the hall and out the back door. Maybe we were going to the orchard. We carried on walking through a few rows of trees then I came upon the reason his garden was so big. In front of me stood what could best be described as a training area, hidden among all the trees.

There was a canopy covering the whole area, there were targets, an area for hand to hand and at the end stood a cabinet filled with what I could only think of as an assassins idea of heaven. On one side were guns, of varying sizes, some very similar to mine others looking more suitable to a sci-fi film. As I went to my right there was a collection of bows and quivers, one looking very traditional, another looking very similar to hawkeye's and a third in a very military-like style. Even further to my right were the more miscellaneous weapons, some things that looked like lasers, bombs, things that looked like they let off electro-magnetic pulse's, all of which were good for making things explode! Which of course, just made me love them all the more.

"My Gods Michael, you've been holding out on me! What exactly do you do?" I glared but not in a threatening manner before marvelling at the weapons some more.

"You've not seen the best yet, or what you'd call the best." Michael said calmly pressing a tiny button on one side of the cabinet that made a hidden part at the back some forward. Things really _were_ turning into a James Bond movie.

Top and centre proudly stood a sword, a remarkable sword - though not as good as mine I didn't think. It was not a katana blade, it was more of a longsword, it looked new, and definitely had more than immediately met the eye. I didn't know that anywhere in the military still did swords, people seemed to think the time of the blades had passed though I like to say I disagreed. What was even more breathtaking was the set of throwing knives, they were completely black, very streamlined, since I was looking at them through what looked like glass but was probably not glass I wouldn't know how they handled but they certainly looked of the highest quality.

I frowned when I saw the empty space that should have held another set of throwing knives.

"Where's the other set?" I took my hands of the glass and turned to face Michael who had his hands behind his back.

"Well... I'd been planning on giving these to you on your birthday..." He said slowly. My face lit up with glee, an early birthday present plus one missing set of throwing knives equalled one epic birthday present. Michael slowly revealed what he was holding, six throwing knives that were absolutely to die for! I knew I was getting overly enthusiastic but it was a habit of mine, like when I would go down to the lab as dad finished a new suit and he would tell me of all the explosive things he'd added, only this was better because they were actually _for_ me.

I hesitantly took one of the blades. The me t al itself was green! Not an ugly shade but an emerald green the same colour as you would imagine the physical version of the dragon engraving of my katana blade to be. The grip was black and smooth but not slippery. They had a modern air to it even though they were in the traditional style. I picked up a second blade in my other hand and concentrating on the target that stood roughly fifty metres away, slightly to the right of Michael I threw the blades and watched as they both hit side by side on the centre of the target.

"Thank you!" I squealed throwing my arms around Michael, he had managed to turn this from being the worst day in my life to the best simply by giving my six pointed objects. Michael chuckled in a brotherly manner and hugged me back. I was aware that I was still being a little too enthusiastic about some blades, but hey I was kind of an assassin/agent in the making, weapons were kind of a big deal to me.

"That's not all." Michael said pulling away from me. I stared at him for a second, "there's _more_." I couldn't see how there could be more. He handed me a pair of glovelettes, I had to admit they were gorgeous. They were black, laced up at the back and were long enough to go halfway up my forearm and cut of just after my thumb but I didn't see what was so special about them.

"Put them on." I said enthusiastically, waiting for me to slide them over my hands until they were on properly. At first I thought they were leather but the feel of it was very different, it wasn't a material I knew but it seemed quite flexible so the lace-up was clearly for decoration only. Once I had them on Michael came to stand behind me.

"Now, I want you to hold your hands out and look right at the two blades." I did as he asked. "And wait for it..." He said almost a whisper. Just as he finished saying 'it' the blades came free of the archery target and back into my grip. It was like Thor's hammer! They came back when I asked them too, oh this was so cool. Normally I wo u ld have asked how they worked but I was too preoccupied throwing the knives again and waiting for them to return when I called for them.

_More than meets the eye indeed._

**Shall we all just assume the Avengers are so awesome that they don't really age?**


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 6**

**Russia, near Mount Hercules 10/05/28**

"Here's as far as I can take you." Michael said as he flicked some switches, one of which turned of the retro-reflective panels making the jet visible again.

We'd landed a few miles away from the mountain itself, close enough to be within walking distance but far enough so not to be seen. I looked around, it was like a tundra, some plants but mainly a dull, brown, rocky surface.

"Here's fine Michael." I replied as I walked off the jet, met with a cool breeze thanks to the snow that covered the higher regions. Eight o'clock sharp we'd left New York and it had only taken a few hours to get here, but with the time difference it made it late evening here, meaning the travel had taken up a day of my time, _seven days left_. I'd given myself a week to get the power source here and the scepter from Hydra, meaning I wouldn't have to spend my birthday skulking around. I'd thought up a reasonable plan of action, just very rough guidelines about how long I'd give myself to do various things but, being me, I'd inevitably ignore my plans. However, for the sake of it I ran through it once again.

_Today, arrive in Russia find a good place to watch. Tomorrow, watch and gather information. Wednesday, retrieve the power source and make my way back to Hydra's base. Day four, watch, days five, infiltrate, day six retrieve and go home, day seven bask in the glory of once again, proving them wrong._

I hadn't asked what Michael was planning to do here but it seemed as though he'd been watching things here for a wile now, and also by the sounds of it, Hydra, it would be in my best interests if I stayed with home for now.

"I'll be back later." I called over my shoulder as I carried on walking towards the mountain, "You can tag along if you want so long as you're quiet." Before I could hear his reply I broke into a run and made for the main mountain, I knew Michael probably would join me eventually, once he managed to catch up with me, by that time I would have found a suitable vantage point.

It took me half an hour to jog the four or so miles to the mountain. As Michael had said on the way there was a considerably sized camp based near the mountain, from here I couldn't see the faces clearly so I decided to go closer. Above the camp was a ledge, large enough for me to lie on comfortably and watch the goings on below. Setting my sights on the ledge I quietly and swiftly climbed up to my new vantage point and then set about waiting for Michael to appear.

It was another hour before he lay down to my right, Michael had probably spent half the time sorting out camp back near the jet - which blended in remarkably well considering that it was a large, military, flying aircraft. I'd used that hour to try and observe what I could - and then eventually running to catch up with me. So far I'd seen a handful of people on S.H.I.E.L.D most wanted list, it was a little stupid for them all to be gathering in one place, like sheep, those people included a few known terrorists - but that was what everyone was classed as nowadays - some jewel robbers, known Hydra agents and the odd other type of criminal. The question was why were they all gathering here? I could understand Hydra's interest, after all they had probably picked up the energy signature thanks to the scepter in their possession but why bring everyone else along too? Why would they want to draw attention to themselves, I knew that they weren't exactly ones to do things by half but at the moment they didn't seem to be doing _anything_.

I shuffled to my left, giving Michael a bit more room to lie down beside me.

"So, what's your assignment? Anything I can help with?" I asked, he'd told me a bit of what he knew of the happenings so far but not what was _going_ to happen, at least to do with him.

"You want me to tell you my assignment but not have any clue why you've come here?" He whispered just as quietly as I had, not turning away from the people he was watching. Normally I didn't ask anything about what he had to do, strictly business and all that but I didn't want his mission to interfere with what I was planning.

"Yeah." I replied casually. Michael sighed, shaking his head as people did when they were amused with the 'youngsters', but it was more brotherly coming from him, he didn't view me as the child I - only technically - was, he kind of looked at me as an equal, at least I hoped he did, because if he thought me any less he was soooo wrong.

"My earlier mission was purely an observation one, collect information. From what we know Hydra's is in possession of a dangerous weapon that may have been owned by one of the Chitauri at the New York attack, Hydra seems to have transferred it from their base to here, I've been sent to retrieve it." That weapon was probably the scepter since the Chitauri that were important enough to have their own 'special' weapon had all been cowering in their little realm whilst Loki and the commoners were sent ahead, that how everyone always played it, in movies, in reality, fiction and non-fiction alike. Michael seemed to know a lot so perhaps he knew what this supposed weapon looked like, I guess being in the military you had access to undercover agents, trackers and numerous other very useful things that I didn't.

"Do you know what it looks like?" Feigning innocence, it was important he didn't know that I knew about the weapon, especially if it turned out to be something completely different, he'd then get suspicious.

"Of course," He scoffed, still not taking his eyes of a particular tent he was watching, "It's a little like a staff. Haven't seen it in person but I know it's gold, with two silver blade like things that hold a glowing blue stone of sorts." No doubts, this was definitely the scepter I was after. I could do one of two things here, I could either leave Michael to do his mission then take the scepter off him after he'd retrieved it or I could ask him to work with me to get the scepter, then still take it and possibly destroy it. I'd never seen it in person either but from the snippets of clips Jarvis had shown me it ranked very high on my list of most badass weapons ever, one day I would make sure to have a similar weapon of sorts, but maybe not one that could possessed people, - actually that would be pretty handy if you could just turn everyone into one of your minions whenever you wanted, a minion army! - it would still be equally badass though.

I opted for the get-Michael-on-my-side technique, since I wasn't in the mood for betraying my only friend.

"Well, sorry to say you won't be taking it back with you." I smiled. It was now that Michael turned to look at me slightly confused.

"And why not?" He asked, glaring at me. We were already on the glare, I had a feeling he wouldn't like what I was going to say.

"Because I need it." I stated, hoping he wouldn't interpret that as _"I'm going to take over the world through using the magical, alien staff and there's nothing you can do about it."_ To make myself seem more innocent I smiled at him in a almost childlike manner.

"No, not this time Dani. This mission is a big one, a real big one, powerful thing to have it will be. I have a lot riding on this. Really, I don't think your reason for wanting it is more important than the U.S. military research lab." He hissed, though he couldn't be more wrong. Normally I would understand that this was an important assignment, especially if they were entrusting him to do it solo, a big responsibility to go against Hydra single handedly. Today, however I couldn't resist the opportunity to brag, well not quite brag but state how important my role seemed to be, for all I knew I could be stopping a precursor to Ragnarok.

"Oh, really?" I hissed back, and he stared at me waiting for what excuse I might think up, if I would think one up at all or whether I would just say because I was me I took priority - yes, I got that streak off my dad. "Well I have the fate of not only a _.S. military lab_ but the whole universe so unless I do what I have to there'll be no better job for you to go to! But sure, if you still think your task is the top priority go ahead!" I made sure to keep to a whisper though it was hard to convey my anger that way without sounding like a snake. My anger really had been my ruling emotion recently, what had happened to the cold heartless me I so craved to be again, the person who could keep level headed and make the decision that needed to be made and the one that could keep her mouth shut for a minute or two!

Michael waited a few seconds to see if I was jesting or not but when it became obvious that I was completely serious he widened his eyes, something we'd both been doing quite a few times over the past couple days.

"You know, I'll never understand how you seem to get the best mission's there are, I would have thought this task would be more suitable for the Avengers" - I winced slightly as he said the last word - "but now I come to think of it you're the best bits of each member. I think if I helped save the universe that might make up for not getting the scepter, think you might need a hand?" He asked, I smiled, I knew I'd be able to count on him, honesty, okay half honesty, did pay off.

"The company's always welcome." I replied turning back to watch the groups of people scurrying around. Tomorrow I'd take a closer look, or maybe tonight. I could give myself a day or two leeway since both things I needed were right next to each other. First though, I would find the power source hidden in a tunnel somewhere nearby. Michael, recognizing that I had now ended the conversation turned back to watch his side of the group. That was how we waited until dusk when we finally decided to -briskly - walk the four miles back to the jet.

**Stark tower**

"Tony put the damned bottle down!" Steve uncharacteristically shouted as he paced back an forth, the rest of the Avengers sat in their respective places on the array of chairs and sofas.

"I can't believe she would do this to us, she's supposed to be one of us good guys." Natasha said - more as a plea - to no one in particular. The news had hit her hard, Natasha had always been attached to Danielle, probably because she didn't have any children of her own, she seemed to find it very hard to process that Danielle had gone, she had walked out of that door not denying their accusations, by doing that she'd confirmed she was hiding something, she'd confirmed that she was indeed, not on their side any more/

"Friends, magic can weaken even the strongest of wills, she is not the first nor the last to let the idea of power get to her head." No one knew how Thor's statement was supposed to make them feel any better about what had happened. It hadn't crossed any of their minds that Dani was in fact innocent, to them if someone did anything to do with magic that meant they were doing something with someone off-realm, the outcome probably wouldn't be good - for the bad guys that was.

"Uh, Thor, um, could you go through the whole magic thing again." Bruce asked fidgeting like many people did when they felt awkward, for Bruce that was a lot of time though he felt more uncomfortable than awkward. He'd finally left his isolation room a few minutes ago but he didn't look as though he was far off from turning into the 'green rage monster' as Tony put it.

"I, myself, am not a spell weaver but I have been around mother and Loki long enough to pick up on a few things. What we saw was something that used to be widely used but now it's an uncommon way to talk. The spell weaver would transport themselves - and anyone who did not have the means of magic - to a mental meeting. The people in these meetings fall into a comatose state because their minds are elsewhere, they can remain like this for anywhere from minutes to months because time flows differently in these places, you do not know how long you have been there." Thor paused letting everyone absorb the information he'd given before continuing, "The figure we saw was likely to be the other member of the meeting, they can appear if the magic is very strong but no one has yet to figure out how or when they appear. Nowadays we have other means of communication and this if often left for when more... Secretive means are necessary." Thor concluded. Everyone looked at him, secretive means that was a code word they all understood, it really didn't occur to them that Dani could have been pulled into said 'meeting' unwillingly.

"Well we know she doesn't have magic, humans lost that ability long ago." Tony remarked, slurring his words. "That means she's conspiring with aliens! My little girls with the off-worlders now!?" He wailed, leaning slightly to one side before stumbling out of the room probably to go pass out in his room, it was amazing he hadn't already.

"Jarvis, have you been able to find her?" Steve asked the artificial intelligence. Steve had always been wary of Jarvis, not quite sure what to make of the smart computers so different to the few during the war, now computers could fit in your palm whereas before they'd take up whole buildings.

"She was seen going to a private military airfield base and boarding a plane with a Michael Roberts but there have been no reports of her since. I have checked air flight records and it hasn't shown up anywhere sir." Jarvis replied. Even Clint had been visibly surprised when Danielle had walked in just before leaving. Clint didn't know whether she had purposely let them see all her weapons, where had she even got them all? She had a gun in a holster, a couple of what looked like grenades, a row of something, knives maybe? It wasn't that easy to see and a sword! A friggin sword, a Japanese sword at that. But more than that what surprised them most was her face, it looked cold, not exactly devoid of emotion but close enough. But she hadn't attacked them, she could have tried, instead she just ran.

"Who's this Michael Roberts?" Tony asked stumbling back into the room somewhere, Steve was really beginning to wonder when he'd just pass out already, at least when he did that he wouldn't be able to drink any more than he had already. Tony wasn't an angry drunk he was more of a reckless one, with him being erratic enough already he wasn't sure he wanted to see how bad his husband could be, because he hadn't been this drunk for a long time, on the wagon and all that. Jarvis, nonetheless had to reply to Tony, whether Steve wanted to stop the AI or not.

"Just hacking into the military mainframe now sir... It seems he is a special operative who works alongside people to the likes of Sam Wilson." Sam Wilson, where did Steve know that name... Yes, Sam had helped him when Bucky payed a visit as the Winter's Soldier planning on killing him whilst Hydra took over S.H.I.E.L.D. soon after that he sort of disappeared, only going back to his house every few months, no more jogging around the park, no more _"to the left"_. Steve decided it would be a good idea to find this Michael Roberts, find out what he knew about Danielle and why he was letting a fourteen - nearly fifteen as Dani had kept on reminding him - year old onto his jet without stopping to think what was going on.

"What can you tell us about Michael Roberts?" Clint asked not quite sure where to direct his question. It only took a few seconds for Jarvis to hack the military to get the files needed and then relay them to the Avengers.

"Michael Roberts; Male, twenty-eight, lived in New York his whole life, joined the military aged eighteen quickly rose through the ranks to become part of the special forces and then moved to the regiment he's in now for the latest technology and the most secretive missions. He was last seen piloting his jet which is said to be going to Russia, left for his mission with an "extra agent" as it's put here, a female freelance agent, given permission to go right from the vice-resident sir. The mission is to observe Hydra's movements with the known terrorist and retrieve 'alien weapon' sir." At the mention of Hydra Steve visibly winced, no doubt thinking of painful memories. They'd all wishfully though Hydra had gone since they'd stayed low profile for nearly fifteen years now.

At the mention of Russia Natasha seemed to zone in again, although Russia brought painful memories back she was very fond of the country, a beautiful country, she hadn't caught any of what had been said before the word 'Russia' though, so Jarvis had to repeat it all for Natasha and then _again_ for Pepper who walked in after being away on business for a fortnight, unfortunately she hadn't been in contact with Tony for that time since it was rather a secluded spot she'd been holed up in for the two weeks.

Eventually Tony passed out on the sofa, his light snoring sounded adorable to Steve and he couldn't help but smile affectionately at his peacefully sleeping husband. Bruce held together well but just sat there uncomfortably, Steve continued his pacing and Natasha and Clint didn't say anything though their minds were busy at work.

When Pepper caught up with everything they set to try and make some sort of plan - Pepper had insisted they all have something to eat first since they hadn't moved from the general area of the sofa for well over two days, originally all worried now all feeling hurt and betrayed. As far as making plans went they didn't do it very well, none of them could decide on what they wanted to do, were they going to bring Dani in, because technically she hadn't done anything that was against the law, were they going to talk to her and try to convince her to come home, because Danielle was extremely stubborn and attempting to talk her out of something would no doubt leave her set on doing something even more, or would they just leave her and give her time, hoping she would come to her senses sometime - sooner rather than later?

It was fair to say, it was a long day.


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 7**

**Russia, 13/5/18**

_Five days left._ Five days then it would be my birthday. The day before that was my deadline to get the orb - that's what I had now called it, I didn't even know if it was orb shaped or not but 'the orb' was a pretty cool name - but with the scepter being so close if I was smart about it I could get them both by tomorrow night and be back home before long.

"Hey Michael, up." I said, kicking his knee slightly to wake him up, there was a growing list of stuff to do today. He mumbled a little, if I'd have wanted to I could have easily made out what he'd said but I couldn't be bothered.

I went to sit on one of the seats in the back of the jet, they were a lot more uncomfortable than they looked, all stiff and an awful angle, not to mention that for a girl who was 5'9" and still growing it felt awfully small.

I'd already had some food, only a bar of chocolate but it would do, I didn't really have much of an appetite today anyway. The five minutes that I sat waiting for Michael I spent inspecting the jet, it wasn't at all big but it wasn't exactly small either. The interior was minimalistic, as you would expect of a military aircraft, the essentials, a cabin, bathroom, kitchen corner, _like a mini house_. Cosy, no not cosy, small. Even though this was probably big for a plane I couldn't really appreciate it because all my life I'd been living in a very large house - skyscraper really - I had whole floors to myself, I'd always been on large jets, my dad never did anything on a small scale.

When Michael walked in he looked as immaculate as usual, grey top with black jeans and boots, leather jacket, not even one of his brown hairs out of place.

"You ready to go?" He asked.

"Breakfast?" I said back, I was all for getting going but it would be a long day he'd need to eat a little something first.

"Already had an apple." He replied. How did he find time to get ready _and_ have something to eat? Even I didn't have time for that. Where did he even get the apple? I looked suspiciously towards him before deciding it wasn't worth thinking about. Michael was just about to step of the plane when I hurried in front of him and walked off first, I always liked being the first to walk off.

We walked quickly over to the camp again, the walk taking a while as it had before, especially since I had to go at Michael's pace. Why couldn't he have landed closer than four miles away? It was stupid to walk for an hour, but then again I wouldn't really want to run in this heat, wasn't Russia supposed to be cold? I'd let him stay and watch again, leave him to his thing whilst I went to find this tunnels. I didn't want Michael to know, not yet, possible not at all. As far as I knew, Michael didn't know about the orb and neither did anyone else, on the other hand it was a bit coincidental that they happened to be gathering right outside where the orb was said to be, and I _didn't_ believe in coincidences.

Forty five minutes later, after a brisk half walk half jog we'd made it to our vantage point again. We both lay down and watched as the people scurried about doing whatever they'd been told to do. I could see a few of my dad's old weapons from when Stark industries was a weapon company, seriously, why did every bad guy always seem to have my dad's old weapons? Surely there had to be some new ones by now.

"I'm just going to have a look around, stay here." I whispered, Michael simply nodded in reply, not turning away from the group of people he was watching. A good sign, wouldn't want him showing suspicion or interest or something, because that lead to curiosity. I backed away quietly, turning around and climbing down from out viewpoint. We'd been on another neighbouring mountain up until now, Michael had been using binoculars to make up for the distance, I could see well enough without them, another pro passed along from father's SSS serum. Mount Hercules was on the other side of the small valley which meant unless I wanted a big detour I'd have to go through the camp of criminals, something I didn't think would present much of a challenge, but I'd never been in the same place as this many people on different most wanted lists, before this it had been more one to one work, but I wouldn't be very good at what I do if I wasn't able to change to fit circumstances. Michael had pointed out which mountain was the one I'd came to look for, directly behind what appeared to be the largest - and busiest - tent, but hey that was just my luck wasn't it.

I reached the edge of the temporary settlement, and casually walked along the edge, keeping to the shadows as much as I could but this area was virtually deserted there really was no need, my only reason for trying to stay hidden was so Michael didn't see me. Now that I was closer I could see what was in these tents and pavilions, - which were in a right state - some where empty, others had beds, others had some guns, they mainly looked unfurnished and very bare, not surprising really.

As I got closer to the centre of the camp it got busier, but I skirted around the edges of the busy areas until I finally got to the base of the mountain. Once there I quickly climbed over to hide behind a particularly large rock. From here I couldn't see any sign of caves, it was a perfectly normal looking mountain. I slowly hiked up in a sort of spiral, I'd walked for about half an hour, staying near the base and still I hadn't seen anything that looked like caves but I guessed they were called _hidden_ caves for a reason.

I climbed, a leisurely pace, no one seemed to be up here so there was no reason so go all stealth mode, my normal walking was quiet enough. It had to be closing on dinner time before I stumbled upon the caves. I'd been walking up the mountain, in no particular direction, I didn't even notice them until they were right in front of me. I was hoping that when Loki had said hidden cave that there would only be one but there was a choice of six in front of me now, I didn't have time to check them all out, one maybe two at the most. I stood before them wondering which mass of darkness to walk into. I found myself drawn to the fourth one, I wasn't sure why exactly, the one thing I was aware of was a sense of feeling energy again, just like I had when Loki had sent out that burst of magic which had brought me into some weird mental meeting with him, only here that feeling was a lot stronger.

Slowly, I walked into the tunnel, the only light was the one shining in from the entrance, that was all I needed to guide me, even so I stuck close to the wall being sure to keep contact with it. As I got further towards the heart of the mountain it got dimmer and dimmer, eventually I couldn't see at all. It hadn't struck me to bring a torch or _anything_ that produced light, which stupid because I'd known I was going to be in caves at some point.

I was so busy trying to fix my watch - it had just stopped working, I knew the batteries were new and it was something dad had made which meant it shouldn't have malfunctioned - because I needed to know when was the time to turn back before Michael started getting curious and tried to find me when the ground wasn't beneath my feet any more. I let out a tiny yelp as I suddenly started falling, it didn't help the I still couldn't see anything.

"Shit." I cursed when I tried to get up but couldn't. Slowly I peeled open my eyes and to my surprise it wasn't dark any more, searching for the source of the light I hit jackpot. On the other side of the cavern was a orb shaped object, gold with a glowing white light and wispy cloud like gas surrounding it.

"He could have warned me." I grumbled, blaming the fall on Loki rather than on my own distraction. I tried to get up again but my leg buckled beneath me, bringing me crashing down again. Moving my hand I saw it was now covered in blood as were numerous other parts of me. I looked skyward and saw where I fell from, must have been about a thirty metre drop, _if I didn't have the perks from SSS that would have killed me_. I would have to be more cautious, fourteen was not the aged I wanted to be when I kicked the bucket.

Glancing down again I saw a pool of blood gathering on the floor but I wasn't all too sure where it was coming from, I would have to look later, first, the orb. Every time I put any weight on my left leg pain seared through me, when I turned me head to much I started seeing black spots before my eyes and every time I tried to move my left arm more pain seared through me. _Father wouldn't have got this hurt by that fall_. Maybe it was because I was younger, or maybe it was just because I didn't try to break the fall at all, now I had unnecessary injuries, ones that would no doubt have to be explained to Michael, they'd probably heal in a couple weeks, maybe less if I was lucky.

The orb was in a glass box, I couldn't see any opening to it it was completely encased. I got my bag off my shoulder and slipped the box into it using only my right hand which proved to be more of a challenge than it seemed. As soon as it was in the bag I quickly zipped the bag shut, not liking that sense I was getting again. Fury had said that the tesseract was pure energy, especially useful to a sorcerer or sorceress who could harness that energy in ways we normal folk couldn't, perhaps I was just sensitive to that energy, yes that had to be it. I couldn't help to think back to what Loki had said... He said I had magic, but that was impossible wasn't it? No Midgardians had magic any longer, Dr Strange who everyone had thought was a spell weaver had turned out to be a very clever fraud. But why could I feel the pure energy - a.k.a. magic - pulsing off it? I would ask someone when I got back, maybe Thor would know. Either way, the feeling made me uncomfortable, very uncomfortable.

I turned around, a little too quickly, spots dancing in front of me, to leave. Where was the way out? Now the orb was tucked away in my bag it was dark again, it took my eyes a minute or two to adjust before I saw a tunnel with a little light at the end. A way out. I smiled, happy to be leaving this cursed mountain, I would not be returning here in a hurry.

Squinting as I walked into the natural light I couldn't really make out much, again, waiting for my eyes to adjust. I had no idea where this exit led to, I really should have checked beforehand because as soon as I walked out I was right in front of the main tent just as people were walking out, the last thing I saw before I passed out - from blood loss I guessed - was about five known terrorists on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s wanted list. Not good.

**Loki's dream**

Even though I knew this was all an illusion and _she_ knew that I knew, Marwoleana still kept up pretences. Something seemed to have snapped in her, probably because now I knew of her plans she didn't have to be the dominant figure, no doubt the consciousness from the orb could see the last of my magic had gone, no need to worry about me trying to get back in control.

It had been - by my guessing - a few days since the truth serum, now Marwoleana was truly in control of the realm, not just me. Unfortunately everyone not under her control thought it was me, _Loki the villainous trickster, always seeking some form of revenge_, or a title of the sort by now. What would Thor think? Thor, my ghastly not-brother, I'd always walked in his shadow and now that the moment came where it seemed I was truly in control it turned out to be some stark mad, power hungry, ancient power source. But that was just my luck wasn't it? The fates never meant for my path to be easy, instead they forced me to walk barefoot across thorns and fire, the shadows of places that once were, never getting a rest on a grassy meadow or hill. She had ambition, I'd give her that, but it wasn't as if it was much of a stretch was it? Her power probably rivalled the tesseract, she _was_ one of the six ancient powers, everything we did was just child's play.

"So, my love, what do you think of my speech? I thought it was rather grand, everyone's surprise before I made them follow my every word!" Marwoleana clapped her hands with glee, again, I had to admit it was quite a feat, but with the realm of the Gods already taken how long would it be before the other realms also succumbed? How long before the people of Midgard became her willing servants? No human would have any chance of resisting the magic that flowed through her? Then what hope would there be for the Midgardian halfling to finish her quest?

Even if she did manage to complete her quest the reward would be death... I knew magic well enough, I knew how it worked, why I had spent near on a thousand years studying it! The two powers, the tesseract - acting through the scepter - and the orb, they would be equally matched and there would be... a conflict of sorts. Basically, they would cancel each other out, but the power, the magic from both would have to go somewhere. That somewhere would be her, and everyone knew what that much power would do to a human. My, just touching the tesseract would kill a human! That was why I told her to get the scepter, that would only burn her not kill her, I wasn'tt sure as to the orb, I just hoped it wouldn't be the same as the tesseract.

I could now see I'd been silent a moment too long, Marwoleana was looking quizzically at me. Even though I despised the woman in front of me, this copy of Sigyn, I could take a page or two from her books to help with my own mischievous makings.

"A very fine speech indeed! To see their faces when you revealed you were one of the six ancient powers, it would have been priceless... Such a shame my dear brother and father couldn't be there to witness it." I wasn't jesting when I said how I would have loved to see the look on the faces of the Asgardian court as they realised they'd been deceived for so long, it would have been ironic really, the prince the court had always hated turned out to be the king they thought they loved... "Dare I ask what you will do next?" The least I could do was to try learn of her plans so on the off chance I did free myself I would be able to foil her plans, I'd only do that if the mood struck me, perhaps I would let her continue her plans just so I could see the look on Thor's face when he realised I was for once, on the winning side. Words were power, that was something people like Thor failed to realise, brute force was all well and good but it was only words and knowledge that gave you true power.

"Odin will remain in the cells, the very cell that we were held in." She nods in agreement with herself before continuing, "Along with the warriors three. Thor won't be a problem." I got the feeling she underestimated Thor, yes he wasn't the brightest of people but one hit from that hammer could kill hundreds of Frost Giants, he was a formidable enemy, especially since he was annoyingly good at getting powerful friends, when I said powerful I meant little-inconveniences-that-paused-my-inevitable-domination-of-everything, except for The Hulk, from what I'd heard he was truly a fierce creature, I shuddered at the very thought of the experience Marwoleana had told me of.

"What else dear?" I hated having to use such a 'loving' term, she was certainly nothing 'dear' to me, no one was and no one ever would be, everyone was just a pawn in my game of chess. What gave me the advantage? Surely no one would trust any word coming from the God of Mischief's lips? But as, I had my resources, after all I was a master Liesmith, I could make people believe my every word no matter how outlandish they seemed, but lying was not only the art of knowing what to say it was to know when to not say anything at all. A very amusing game sometimes. I smiled, Marwoleana also failed to notice my lies.

"In less than a Midgardian week, I will be strong enough to make my final move. There really isn't much to say, who knows what will happen, all I know is it will be blissful chaos." She sighed happily at the thought, as did I, chaos truly was a blissful thing, the state of confusion everyone's in , when I - usually the one causing the mischief, or at least a part of it - can sit happy knowing perfectly what's going on. When you can see the rankings fall into dissaray, a leader once becomes a leader no more, all very satisfying. I was itching to ask her in more detail what this final phase entailed but I didn't want to push my look, from the sounds of it Marwoleana wasn't all too sure herself, it seemed she'd spent thousands of years perfecting the beginning of her plans but then never expected to get this far so did not plan the final stages, her first of many mistakes.

What annoyed me was the fact there was virtually nothing I could do whilst stuck here, if I hadn't weakened to the point where my magic left me I would have a chance at leaving this place, leaving the darkness, leaving the visits to mothe-no _not my mother_, the Allmother's garden and become myself again, what a pleasure that would be, to walk around on realy ground and to smell the scent of real roses, the feel of real leather, and to do magic again, yes.

My magic would come back as soon as I was free of this place, because it had not been bound it had simply run dry. If it ran dry I was obviously exhausted, starving, weak - but not dead because I was of the Aesir realm, the _immortal_ realm - but once I got my strength back my magic would also come back. It would be a very different story if my magic was bound. You could bound magic in but a few ways, only one of which was permanent. The first was to do something that meant you were constantly casting a spell you could not control, draining it with constant use, it was the kindest of the ways, but also one of the trickiest to do, to force someone else's will to bend to yours, that was the type of magic bound to the muzzle that had been used on me, that damned muzzle that stopped me from speaking, stopped me from magic, the clamped down over my mouth and jaw... The second was not as painless, yes, there would be exhaustion and weakness but it would be a lot worse than that it would take away your very essence. What many people failed to understand was magic was not simply a talent or a hobby some people had, with time it literally became you, it would weave it's threads into everything about you. Your emotions were your magic, your senses were your magic, your knowledge was your magic, your memories were your magic, your very soul was your magic. All of it would come together and fuel your magic, so if one wanted to nullify your magic they would have to take away all of that, take away your love, your hate, your emotions, your childhood memories, your dreams, your ambition, your contentment, your speech, your sight, they would take away _everything_. That was a fate even worse than death, fortunately very few methods like this were used and they could normally only be held for short amounts of time before you magic would retaliate - magic did not like to be bound - and lash out returning in full force but by doing so it would most likely leave you with your own scars. The permanent way... I shuddered at the thought, when I was a child I had stumbled upon a book on the ritual and being the curious person I was I had read it and the mental image had tormented me for years, dreams in where various people I used to trust clamped me down as someone carved the runes over my chest, the back of my head, my limbs, deep enough to cause permanent scars, for as soon as the scars went your magic would return. To use that method was to take drastic action, very drastic measures, thankfully it had not been a method used in my lifetime for it was essentially a death penalty, because a spell weaver without their magic was nothing, their life was not worth living any more, you were taking away everything about them, you were taking away the thing they enjoyed that made them... Whole, the spell weaver would simply give up the will to live, no one had ever survived more than a few days after such measures.

I guess that was the one positive thing about this whole experience, at least when I was finally free I would get to feel the joy of my magic. They said that you could love anything more than something you missed, and my did I miss it already, it had been agony to feel my magic slip away from me over the years, when it got to the point where I had to conserve the last few drops I had... It was awful. But now that I knew the misery the happiness I would feel when regaining it would be amazing, that much I knew.

**Just so you get the dates.**

**10th of May - The big confrontation where the Avengers have decided Dani's an emeny ans she goes to Michael's/**

**11th - Go to Russia**

**12th - Watching the Mountain**

**13th - this chapter.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 8**

**Back in Russia again! The next day.**

The first thing I noticed as my eyes opened was the throbbing in the back of my temple, the next, that I was not somewhere good. I tried to be aware of my surroundings, but like immediately after my fall, things were a little hazy. Think, what's the last thing you remember. That was always the best way to start. I'd fallen off that bloody ledge... Found the orb, it was in a glass box, left the mountain... But when I left the mountain I saw Hydra agents everywhere. Oh shit. I silently cursed, my game was off on this mission, I was getting sloppy, never before had I unintentionally got captured by the enemy, and never before by an enemy as strong as this.

I tried to move but let out an involuntary moan when pain seemed to stab at me from every direction, what the hell?

"Ah, you're awake." A man with a light Russian accent said, I couldn't look to see from which direction the voice was coming from because I couldn't lift my head no matter how hard I tried. This probably annoyed the Russian, I knew what people like him wanted, they wanted you to look them in the eyes, they wanted you to, well, kneel - for some, not just figuratively - and submit to them, they wanted you to admit they had won, after all what was a villain if not an attention seeker?

When I didn't reply I felt a hand firmly grasp my hair and yank it backwards, bringing my gaze towards the man glaring at me. He wasn't anything special, so very like the people I'd seen on earlier missions, stiff posture, an air of arrogance - because how could I, a child be any threat to them? - and ultimately, someone who was in my way. Their arrogance was always their downfall, always thought they were superior yet I could snap them in half like a twig, and the look on their stupid little faces as they saw who their killer was, the shock that would register on their faces as they look up, the last thing they see is my face, that I am responsible for their downfall! That I am not helpless, not ignored, that I am worthy. These thoughts were way to deep for someone in my state, any way I was on the job, focus damnit!

"What are you doing here? Who sent you?" The man demanded in a firm tone. Of course, he knew I wasn't going to answer, no one ever pulled back the curtains on their plan so hastily. The man glared at me as I tried to look as relaxed as possible, my vision clearing now. I held his gaze and eventually it was him that looked away, was I getting to him already? Ha, this would be a breeze.

"Answer me." His voice getting louder as he walked towards me, placing a hand on each armrest of my chair, he was right up in my face. Still, it didn't phase me, whilst I had the answers to his questions I was in control. So, I just looked at him, staying as silent as a mouse.

When he saw the intimidation wasn't working he changed his tack. Straightening again, to stand his full height he walked over to the table that was in the centre of the room and casually leaned against it.

"You know, I've heard of you, quite infamous among our crowd." I seriously doubted that, I hadn't really done anything that would make any sort of impact on the criminal community, only small things here and there, small things I thought I covered up well enough. The only thing I couldn't stop was people, people and their tendency to talk and gossip. If they'd heard anything about me it could only be through word of mouth. Lets hear what he has to say of me then, what reputation have I got now.

"They say you are like a dark angel. Silent, deadly but innocent looking. I can see they were not right about everything, there is nothing innocent about you... No, you'll join us soon enough." Okay, not what I was expecting, what the hell was he sniffing if he thought I was going to join their side. See, even the bad guys think you're on their side! Maybe you should just do as everyone expects. Was what the voice in the back of my mind whispered, I ignored it though, I wouldn't ever do something like that, would I? I wanted to tell him this, that he was obviously deluded but that would be giving in, I would not talk to him, that was what he wanted, this Russian guy was only trying to get to me.

"You may pretend to be SHIELD's little lapdog, but I doubt they would take on a girl like you." He said, putting a finger under my chin and lifting my head which was still hung a little. He almost seemed to be studying me, could he see something I was missing? It felt like he was gazing right into me, like the wall that stopped him looking into my soul was gone, it was the most unnerving sense I'd ever experienced. Before I just had to be angry, that wouldn't so much as mask the rest of me it would dominate me, but now I was uncertain, he seemed to be voicing some of my deepest thoughts and worries, I didn't like it.

His skin was rough, no doubt because of the Russian climate. The man looked to be in his late twenties, Michael's age maybe? He had pale skin and now that I looked at him closer - more because I needed to focus on something rather than the woozy feeling I felt - he had a scar above his left else? Concentrate. His face was angular, chiselled features, Not half bad. I laughed.

"What are you laughing at girl?" He interpreted my laugh as something directed at what he said not at my thoughts, well obviously he would do that. "You may sneer, you may look down at us now but I can see the potential. I have seen the future you know, and I must say it looks like you won't be on the good side for much longer." Seen the future? The scepter, it had to be. Clint had told me when he was 'possessed' by Loki's magic and the power of the tesseract that it almost seemed to show him a vision of the future, same as it had with Eric Selvig, that was my confirmation the scepter was here. But if he'd seen the future, well then it was the future no doubt so it could be nothing but true? No. I wouldn't do that, it was just a possible future, one in some alternate universe, not here, something would really have to piss me off to make me go that far. Nonetheless, it wasn't good to know that if I made a bad decision somewhere down the line I'd end up fighting for the wrong side, I'd never lower myself to the level of this scum! "You will do great things." He nodded his head in agreement with himself. Of course by great he undoubtedly meant villainous.

"Still silent? Well, you are the raven after all." Raven, I'm no raven. The young Russian saw my befuddled expression and elaborated. "You are the Raven, that is who you are." He pointed at my chest. "In there, you are the raven." Now he was going all philosophic on me, I was in no state to make sense of riddles, he'd just have to give it me straight. The man sighed in frustration when I showed no signs of understanding him. Firmly he said, "You are the raven, that is what we call you. Your dark hair puts even a black king snake to shame. You silently go just as a raven can silently stalk it's prey..." He said a few more things but I wasn't listening. Raven? Maybe that's what I was. A raven; the lone creature, someone who's seen as an ill omen, a bad sign, the first to leave, to some a raven is even a beast. Yes, it seems fitting, or if this predicted future is true, it will then be very fitting.

I didn't know why I always had such self-loathing, I guess I always felt like I didn't fit in, the outsider of the Avengers. Always silently following in their shadow, fixing their messes, now fixing a much larger mess. The lone raven. Yes, I'd keep that name. Wasn't sure how much it'd work for a good guy though, oh wait, except I wasn't a good guy, for the next week or so I was 'the enemy' then I'd go back and get to be regarded as a hero, not sure how much a name like that would work then, oh well, I'd make it work. Stop getting off point!

The Russian could probably see I was losing focus, he almost looked concerned. It was only now he noticed my injuries, I presumed they'd not bothered to treat them before but now I could see that wasn't intentional. They couldn't have me bleeding to death on them, how would they get their information if I was gone? He barked something in Russian to one of the guards by the door to the interrogation room and I found that he was then lifting me in his arms cradling me as I lost consciousness. Well this was an unexpected change, he really wasn't very smart was he? If I had been faking this - which unfortunately I wasn't - I would just have to wait a few seconds them I'd be able to escape. It was most likely because he thought I was 'on their side' so why would I destroy one of my own? Ah well, I'd go with it whilst it was an advantage. This was certainly the most unique interrogation I'd ever had.

"It's okay young Raven." The Russian accent was actually quite comforting as I slipped in and out of consciousness. I wasn't quite sure what went on next. I didn't know how long I'd been in that room, what day it was, how long I'd stayed in the room I was in now, I only hoped it hadn't been too long and Michael would soon try come and get me. I could probably break out alone but to do that I would first need to heal enough to stay awake for more than two minutes at a time.

When I finally awoke, properly this time, I was in a healing tent, a very simple place, just a bed and a couple other necessities. The young Russian was sitting at the foot of the tent, next to the way out staring intently at me as I tried to sit up. He still unnerved me and he seemed a tad bipolar, not good for me. I could see a gun poking out of his black, jacket pocket. That was the only weapon I could see but no doubt he had one or two more tucked away somewhere.

"Ah, you've awoken." He stated. Well duh, I knew that I was the one awakening. He sat, legs leisurely crossed, he seemed at ease except he was guarding the doorway. That meant he didn't see me as enough of a threat to be on guard but enough to guard the exit to stop me from escaping. At ease enough to get information from him? He'd had his chance now it was mine but I'd have to start with innocent enough questions to make it seem as if I was actually showing some sort of interest in joining them, no, not that because they thought I had already joined them, interest in... Taking the lead? Oh I didn't know.

"So... Do you even know my real name, or does everyone just think of me as 'the Raven'? How did you even know me I've never seen you before." I asked, only occurring to me now that he knew who I was though I didn't know him.

"I do now I have seen you. You are Danielle Rogers-Stark. I watch out for my enemies you know, of course I'd know the daughter of two of the Avengers. But yes, everyone knows of you as the Raven, just as you knew of Schmitt and only the Red Skull. How did I know that you Danielle was the Raven? Like I said the tesseract has shown it to me, shows that when the Ravens fly chaos will come." Ah yes, of course they would keep a close eye on their enemies, me included I guess.

I took a few deep breaths, I was feeling better already.

"And you, what is your name?" Names were power, he already knew mine so I would know his. He hesitated for only a millisecond before answering.

"My name is Viktor." Was his short, curt reply. Definitely sounded Russian, didn't think this 'Viktor' would have been dumb enough to give me his real name, or perhaps it wasn't his real name, who knew? What to ask now? My priority was the scepter, I needed to know where it was so I could get it when I left. It would be logical to keep it close to the main tent, close to the leader of this group - whoever that was. First though I would ask where they'd put my things.

"Viktor." I paused. "Where are my things?" I asked. Viktor didn't reply, merely nodded towards the back of the tent. I turned to look over my shoulder and just as he gestured my bag as well as other things seemed to be there. I only hoped they hadn't gone through my bag, not that it would be easy to do since it was another thing made by my dad, sort of bonded to my DNA in a way so it would only open to me, that was the sole reason I'd chosen it, and it was a bucket bag? Who could say no to such a cute thing, it matched a lot of outfits.

Walking over to my stuff I found that the bag was indeed intact which insinuated they didn't know of it's contents - the orb and my older set of throwing knives. Even most of my weapons were there though I noted the absence of the grenades, gun and 'stick', but I didn't really mind I could get a replacement it was my sword and knives that I really wanted, sentimental, and what would Michael say if I lost his present after but a few days? My katana sword really was one of a kind, I still couldn't remember where I got it from only that one day I didn't have it and the next I did. To me, I liked using it, it was an elegant weapon but it wasn't my favourite for that, I favoured it because of it's quality and craft, because of the beautiful little dragon on it, because of the leather bound to the grip... The knives were definitely my preferred weapon, and perhaps they would become my favourite weapon overall, because who couldn't admire the beauty of these too? The way the green shined, the way-

"Those are some unique blades. May I see?" Viktor cut across my thoughts. He'd probably already had a look at them but I picked them up and went towards him regardless. I was happy to know I still wore my special gloves so if he tried anything funny I could call the knives back, as for the katana sword...

"Uhh, sure." I said, handing him the sword first. Remember, for some stupid reason he thinks you're with them, nothing will happen. Viktor took the blade out of it's sheath and held the sword up skyward, walking outside the tent to admire it in the light. I smiled, feeling pride for my baby sword. Wow, did I just call the sword my baby? Well, I guess it made sense, it was one of my pride and joys.

"Yes, very beautiful." He let his fingers travel over the engraving of the Japanese dragon. I'd often wondered what the dragon would look like if she - I'd decided it was a she - was real, in her full glory, quite a sight to see. Viktor started doing a few sequences. I watched him as a master would a student, mentally critiquing him. Certainly the best swordsman - granted one of the only swordsman - I'd seen in a while but he still lacked that finesse. He wasn't suited for a blade like mine, he was fractionally too slow in his movements for an eastern blade, slightly too heavy on his feet, didn't have that grace, the sword was not an extension of his arm like it should be. In spite of that, he had a good technique. I walked slowly in a wide circle around him, I was mildly amused by the the relaxed atmosphere of this camp so very different to what someone on the outside would perceive the villain's camp to be, so very different to how things at S.H.I.E.L.D. were. It was surprising that they let me, someone who was supposed to be a captive walk freely around. Except you're not a captive, are you? My subconscious taunted, reminding me of the possible future that lay in my , lies! He was bluffing! He's saying that, their acting this out to make me think I should side with them, that it's inevitable!

A few of the people stopped to watch Viktor before carrying on with their task. After a while Viktor finished one of his sequences, ending with swinging the blade to a high guard position followed by a descending cut and finishing in middle guard. Viktor stood, clicked his heels together and placed the sword back in it's sheath, walked over to me and traded the sword for two of the knives. I was more hesitant about letting him have those, already I had an attachment to them, I knew that in the future they really would be very dear to me.

I wasn't quite sure where he was going to throw the knives because there were no targets here only tents and ammunition. Just as he was about to throw the knives - at God knows where - another young man came up to him and whispered something in his ear. Viktor grunted in frustration and then yelled something in Russian - a language I didn't know, I was only fluent in English and Welsh, two pleasant languages - but whatever it was I could tell he was not happy. Viktor walked over to me and asked.

"Are you with us or against us Raven?" Was he really asking me this?

"Well I would say yes but I only serve myself." I laughed, for once I was being honest. I served S.H.I.E.L.D. while it was in my interests and to help the Avengers but in the end I would do what was needed to survive.

"I would not expect you to do anything else, you answered correctly, I would have known if you had lied." Well, he thought a lot of himself didn't he? I happened to be quite a good liar, not that I was about to mention it. Like I'd mentally repeated, I would pretend to be with them while it remained an advantage and a way to get information, these fools were trusting enough that it would be even more of a doddle than my homework. We made our way to the largest pavilion, which was bigger than it had looked, it fit multiple rooms, it was more like a temporary house than a tent really.

I made a mental note to learn Russian because at the moment I really didn't know what was going on, everyone was shouting over each other in Russian. I just stood in the background awkwardly, not that I let them see how uncomfortable I felt. From what I could the young Russian was actually the boss of these lot, who also looked to be leaders of their respective troops, so having him not see me as a threat right now was a good sign - for me.

From the gesturing and the commotion it was obvious something was amiss, someone taking... Ammunitions? Someone, attacking! That meant Michael! Wasn't sure how he was managing all this single handedly though... I would certainly ask when all this was done.

The scepter would be somewhere in this pavilion, there was a corridor and five rooms including the one I was in. Maybe when I got the scepter I'd get to do some magic blast things, oh that would be fun, explosions! I was the closest person to the door and with everyone important bickering and arguing I could probably slip out unnoticed. And that was exactly what I did, but not before grabbing the portable memory block that was sitting on the desk by the only computer in the room to my right.

I didn't have long before one of the people would glance back to find me gone. Since this was a tent the doors were more like slits where the material was cut, all I had to do was push the material to one side, it really wasn't a very secure 'building'.

In the third room was what I was looking for and with the distraction outside everyone from here was now gone. Really, these people were so cliche, everything was remarkably easy! Okay, falling in the mountain was didn't count as 'easy', not as such but... Oh, why was I being picky about this of all things? Slipping inside I headed to the other side of the makeshift lab to where the scepter was being held. It was the main exhibit of the museum that was this laboratory. However there did seem to be a few other things of interest, nothing that I recognised, knowing they must have been of at least some importance I stuffed them in my bag before heading over to the scepter and grabbing it.

The scepter felt heavy in my hands, the gold refreshingly cold to the touch. The blue gem, which was part of the power from the tesseract was mesmerisingly beautiful, it reminded me of the seas in the Caribbean. However, there was no time to admire it in any depth now, right now I'd have to find whoever caused the distraction - hopefully Michael - and get to them. The shouting from the room had risen to a whole new level a few second ago but now it was eerily quiet in here, the shouting still at full force outside.

Slitting a hole through the back of the tent, one large enough for me to step through I tried to listen to what was happening around me but all I could hear was gunfire and Russian. Did everyone know Russian but me?

The next few minutes was spent running, hiding behind things whilst getting shot at. I didn't really think anyone really knew what was going on, they were just shooting wildly in any direction at anyone they saw, they were killing each other off. Luckily no one had brought out any of dads big stuff, I would know if they had because we would most likely all be dead.

At one point I finally got a chance to use my throwing knives, and gleefully use the gloves to call said knives back. It probably should have worried me that I was enjoying a battle so much, that I had enjoyed throwing a knife at that woman's stomach but it was all normal to me. I really was following in Natasha's footsteps, even getting the animal nickname! Except she probably didn't enjoy doing this in the same sense I did... She did it because it was what she knew I did it for the fun of it.

Finally I saw Michael and we seemed to have one of those telepathic conversations through expressions and gestures:

-So it was you!

-You're okay?

-Fine. Let's get out of here.

-Yeah. Got the stick?

-Do you even have to ask?

Michael could handle himself so I headed off in the direction where the jet was, it was going to be a long run especially since my leg was still painful, but a lot better than it had been immediately after the fall.

I stayed at a flat out sprint for as long as I could before slowing to a relaxed jog, no one was following me now. In the distance behind me I could see a figure heading my way. Michael. And not surprisingly, there was no one tailing him either. Reaching my hand inside the bag I felt that the glass container with the palm sized orb was still there as were the other things I;d picked up. The scepter was in my other hand. Mission accomplished.

**So here's the chapters I've already done, will try get the new chapters up asap. :)**


	10. Chapter 10

**Back at the jet**

When Michael got back I was already fiddling with some of the things I'd nabbed, starting with the with the things from the memory block. There was a lot of information and by that I meant _a lot _of information in regards to pretty much all of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most wanted list, hydra, whiplash 2.0 (ye, lame name, straight to the point though) and numerous other terrorists and threats. I grinned, sending a copy of all the information to my good friends back home at S.H.I.E.L.D. signing it as the anonymous tip - using the special signature things I put at the end of everything - but this time adding my real name so they knew it was me, hopefully this would convince the Avengers I wasn't as evil as they believed. I didn't bother trying to mask my location, not because they would be able to trace it - because they wouldn't succeed if I truly wanted to stay hidden - but purely because we weren't going to be here for much longer. As soon as Michael got his breath back it would be off and out back to the military base near New York, off to finish this little adventure.

But in all seriousness I did hope this convinced them I wasn't as evil as they thought. I mean how could their opinion of me change so dramatically due to one little thing? How could one possibly come to such a conclusion after witnessing one said of a tiny thing! You couldn't! What they witnessed was not the crime it was the evidence, in some sort of symbolic way at least. It couldn't have made them just hate me out of the blue, all it could do was confirm their doubt... Did that mean they'd already had doubts about me? How could the- No, I couldn't do this now. Everything was leading back to them! My emotions were slipping, it was because I was so confused, everything had come at me all at once, I wasn't used to so much personal drama, things that made me question myself, and I knew I would have to get my thoughts straight before I could become unbiased again. I saw Michael arrive and was snapped out of my thoughts. Thankfully. They were getting deep.

"You had me worried there for a bit." I said quietly, not looking away from the computer screen, information scrolling past me. "For a minute I thought you were going to leave me to get out on my own." I added quickly, to brush off the feels that may have been conveyed. Unfortunately, Michael saw passed it.

"Is that a little sentiment I'm seeing there?" He said jokingly, I just glared at him, he knew where I stood on feelings, but I couldn't help but notice I was getting a little soft, I guessed that was what happened when you were around the Avengers, you became a do-gooder yourself. Don't get me wrong, I had nothing wrong with fighting the good fight except I did it for different reasons than them, they did it out of kindness, redemption, because they could help others. They did it for reasons that superheroes did it. Not me, I was no superhero. I did it because it meant I could kill and not get in trouble for it, I did it because it meant that I could be above justice, could do what villains did and it would be seemed as honourable, I did it because I didn't think I'd ever be able to go into a battle with the Avengers knowing that their next target was me, because through everything I didn't think of myself as someone evil. But then again it wasn't like I was a good person, I didn't like all that generosity crap, helping others, I was more of an... Anti hero. Yes, an anti hero, that was me. I nodded, as if needing to agree with myself to believe it.

"We're leaving now. If it's 3pm on the 16th here... By the time we get back it should be about... 8pm. I assume you're still staying at mine aren't you?" Michael asked as he walked towards the cockpit. Did he say the 16th? How long had I been asleep for! Maybe he'd just misspoken, that was too long, yes I had everything, but two days couldn't have passed! In the past two weeks I'd only been aware of half of it...

"Did you say 16th?" I asked casually. "And yes, if you don't mind. I still have to finish my assignment." I didn't disclose any more than that, he knew a little but no where near enough to put together all the pieces.

"Yes I did, thought you'd upped and left me for a while. Until I saw you walking around with the guy running the show. Oh, he escaped by the way, only the expendables were... Expended." Well that was one way of putting it, but true. All the people running the show had probably escaped unharmed whilst the minions blindly following the orders paid the price of the deeds of those above them. Necessary though.

After a little more idle chit chat I left Michael to star piloting, I was hoping they'd get back ASAP but Michael didn't need to know I was in a hurry. Considering he wouldn't be rushing back it'd be about ten hours before we landed, hopefully that was enough time to finish going through all this new information I'd got, I was a very fast reader. The power sources though would have to wait until I got back, I wasn't sure what would happen when I put them together but it could be explosive, I didn't want to risk blowing up the jet halfway across the Atlantic. Nope, I didn't see the appeal to that. And surely it wouldn't take more than a minute or two to put the two things together, so yeah, I had plenty of time. After that I'd be able to go home and carry on with everything as best as I could.

...Or maybe I'd just move in with Michael, he was pleasant company. And it's not like I would be taking up all the space because half his time he spent away on military duty, the other half I was away doing my own duty. It could work out well, of course I'd have to ask him first, unlike my Dad I wasn't cocky enough to just move into someone's house without telling them first, moving into their house, yeah I'd do that, just I'd _tell them first - _It's a long story.

As I was looking through a particular file on a new nuclear weapon that was being developed thanks to what little information Hydra had been able to get from the Chitauri Scepter I became aware of that sensation again. The one where I swore I could feel the energy that was in the Scepter and the Orb, but, again, I convinced myself I couldn't, unless by some weird circumstance I could now detect magic. That would be cool. Yup, pretty awesome, but unfortunately, I couldn't, because I was human, and human's were as close as one could get to being blind to magic. We only saw what was right in front of our eyes, and even then things could be hidden in plain sight. That put us at a great disadvantage compared to the rest of the nine realms. Except for Thor - and Loki now it seemed - I'd never seen anyone that wasn't from Midgard, maybe we weren't the only realm that had lost touch with the magic of the land, but I'd probably never get a chance to find out.

Still, I felt the tug of the energy. I couldn't pretend it wasn't there because the longer I was around it the stronger it seemed to feel and to say it was unnerving didn't even begin to describe it. After trying and failing numerous times to concentrate on the text that was filling the screen on the small laptop monitor that lived in the front of the plane, immediately behind the doors to the cockpit I gave up and grunted in frustration. Walking over to where I knew the power sources were I picked up the bag that contained the scepter and the glass box in which the orb was encased and threw it as hard as I could against the wall. I knew I couldn't break it by accident, these things weren't fragile, then again I was a lot stronger than the average human.

If Michael heard the thud and the crack as the glass that encased the orb split he didn't let on. Hopefully he wouldn't notice the slight dent in the supposedly strong metal that made the shell of the jet either. I didn't bother picking up the bag as I stormed past it to the other side of the plane, as far away from it as possible. It didn't help though, I could still _feel it. _It wouldn't leave me, I could tell it was there, it felt like it was calling out to me. Maybe I was just becoming paranoid? Oh, screw that, I didn't know, all that I was sure of was I shouldn't have been feeling this, I didn't know how but I just knew that this was more like a symptom of something. How did I know? Well, I couldn't really describe it but it felt like something was awakening inside me, something I had no idea even existed inside me before. It felt completely foreign but at the same time it felt so _powerful_, so good, and exotic. But it wasn't natural to be feeling this, and that scared me. Nothing had truly scared me in a long time but this did. That was the thought that stayed with me as I tucked myself away into the smallest spot at the end of the jet and curled up into a ball, trying to shield myself from that feeling, but I couldn't, it taunted me for the whole flight back.

* * *

**Stark Tower**

It had been a few days now and things were getting easier for the Avengers. That morning Thor had returned to Asgard, with the intentions of asking Heimdall what he could see of Danielle. Yesterday Steve and Natasha had gone to Sam Wilson's apartment in the hopes that he was there and could tell them more about this Michael. Tony had wanted to come too but he was too drunk to walk from his bed - yes, the bar had now seemed to have moved to within the reach of his bed - to the front door.

It seemed luck was on their side that day because they'd caught him the day before he was leaving on another mission.

~Flashback~

"Steve? Why, I don't believe it, you haven't aged a day since I last saw you! Neither have you actually Natasha..." Sam frowned. What he didn't know was the Avengers - with the exception of Thor and Steve - had been given a serum, far more basic than Steve's that slowed their ageing process immensely, of course Coulson, Hill and Fury had the injection too, who would run S.H.I.E.L.D. without them?

"Hey Sam, d'you have a minute?" Steve asked and followed Sam inside after he'd gestured for the two people to step inside.

"What can I do to help you?" Sam asked as they all sat down in his small living room.

Natasha got straight to the point. "What do you know about Michael Roberts? And more importantly what's his connection to Danielle?" It took Sam a few moments to answer, no doubt he was carefully considering his answer, Michael was his friend after all.

"Why do you want to know?" Sam finally replied. Natasha raised an eyebrow. "Do you really want to know?" It was meant to be a rhetorical question but Sam answered nevertheless.

"Yes actually, I do." Steve nodded at Natasha, signalling they could trust him and she launched into her story. It didn't take too long to recount because in all honesty they didn't know that much, Dani had upped and left before they even had a chance to think of locking the door, not that it would have helped, she did have the SSS serum in her after all.

"She has a sword? A Japanese sword! How the hell did she get that-" _Boys._ Natasha mentally thought, of course the fact that would seem important to them was the weapon, although Natasha had to admit she was surprised too, she didn't know anyone even knew how to use a sword any more, most people preferred guns. She preferred guns. How could a sword compete with that? She didn't know how lethal the more traditional weapons could be, who could blame her though, she'd never seen Loki or Dani use their throwing knives, she wouldn't have come to her conclusion otherwise. Lethal didn't do them justice. "-Wait, you said she had a sheath of something? Knives! Michael had a set bought specially not a week or two ago, said it was a birthday present for an old friend." So Danielle and Michael definitely knew each other, after all Dani's birthday was in two days, they had to find her before then.

Danielle's betrayal had hit her hard, she thought she was close to Dani, surely she would have noticed if something was amiss with her, wouldn't she? But she'd spent the past couple days thinking really hard and had realized something. Something big. They'd just outcast her from the family. And for no reason. That broke her heart, part of the family was gone because they had hastily accused her. None of them had known any of the facts, that's what they were trying to learn now, the word magic had been said and had sent sirens blaring in all of their heads and they didn't even try to understand, they didn't ask her if she was okay, they just thought if there was magic it meant another realm, and if there was another realm that meant an enemy and possibly another attempt at world domination, one that Danielle was a part of.

It was then she realized she'd zoned out of the conversation and had missed all the information Sam had given, Steve was getting up now so Natasha did too.

"Bye." Steve called over his shoulder as he walked away from the building. Natasha asked what Sam had said.

"You weren't listening?" This struck Steve as odd, she was always focused, but he knew how everything had effected Natasha. Steve had just tried not to think of it, he was the leader of the Avengers, he had to stay strong for them all, when all this mess was over he could then take the time to reflect on Dani's betrayal. He had his doubts though. Who could blame him? He was a man of hope and what had they done? They had panicked after seeing the video footage and hastily pushed the blame to the easiest person possible: Danielle. And that was shallow of them. All six of them were adults, supposedly heroes, and Dani was just the child, who, for all they knew, had been dragged into a horrific dreamlike state with their enemies - not her enemies, because how could she have enemies? She lived a normal life, well as normal as she could, but had refused to do any super hero stuff, not that he would have let her anyway - and then been suddenly outcast by her own family. They all seemed to think it was her who had betrayed them... But maybe it was the other way round.

"Steve?" Natasha pulled him back to reality, it was no he realized he'd stopped walking right in the middle of the street and Natasha was looking at him worriedly but also with understanding.

"Yes, uh, Sam! Yes, he said that Michael had left nearly a week ago to Mount Hercules, where it seems many of the most wanted list are gathering together, with a woman who'd been given special permission to go by the Vice-President of America. He didn't see her clearly, but he seemed to find it hard to believe it was Danielle, because he didn't think Michael would ever let a child accompany him but there was definitely the tip of a sword peeking up the end of her jacket." Natasha nodded along taking in the information. Steve would have liked to ask more but it seemed that was all Sam had been willing to disclose.

"Time to go back and tell the others?" Steve asked, beginning to walk again.

"Let's hope Tony isn't _completely_ wasted." Natasha replied though she knew that was being a little optimistic.

* * *

**A/N: So can anyone guess what's happening to Danielle? Favourite this and you get Loki's scepter, follow it and you get the orb. (and no I can't literally give it to you only mentally for those of you who superly wish you cuold just fangirl everything into existence, *whispers* I do too.)**


	11. Chapter 11

**Warning: A lot of Dani swearing in this chapter, she's not in a good mood okay, she has a good excuse!**

**Stark Tower - about 8pm, still on the 16th**

"Sir, Michael Roberts has just returned from his mission." Jarvis stated. Tony, who had sobered up now, though not by choice - he'd ran out of alcohol. - demanded they go over and question this Michael, and why he'd let their child go on a dangerous mission with him. Everyone agreed that they ought to find out what his connection to Dani was.

"So who's going to go?" Clint asked. "I think we should all go, it'll add a level of intimidation. Anyway, I don't think any of us want to be left behind." Steve had to admit Clint had a point, no one would be particularly happy to have to be the one waiting back at the tower.

Jarvis gave Tony the directions on his iPhone, obviously one with modifications on it, because he was an engineer after all, tinkering with stuff was what he did. Tony drove one car, with Steve and Bruce coming with him whilst Natasha drove another of his convertibles with Clint.

From what Jarvis had told them Mr Roberts had only just arrived back to Steve told everyone they should go to the airbase instead, there would be a debriefing before the soldier could go home. The change of destination only added a minute or two to the travel time, after all, they weren't ones for following traffic laws, much to Steve's dismay.

As they barged into the hanger they were bombarded with the smell of fuel and oil, they seemed to be servicing the jet at the scanned the room for the highest ranked person and saw him leaving with a man, appearing to be in his late twenties, possibly twenty eight - he was good with ages - and a woman with a black leather jacket, hood covering her features. Dani! Steve was planning on going for subtlety, but Tony obviously didn't know of the word.

"Hold the fuck up there young lady!" Tony shouted in a booming voice, one he only reserved for people he was _extremely _angry with, causing everyone to momentarily stop what they were doing to glance at the newcomers, go back to their work then stop again once they realized who it was. The woman froze for a millisecond, gave a quick glance to her right, to the man standing beside her and then bolted. No one seemed to be the least bit curious or confused when they saw her suddenly break into a sprint, that was a little odd, wasn't it? And the slight hesitation made it clear this person was definitely a hostile, most likely Dani, otherwise why would they have ran? And with the reference 'young lady' only a, well, young lady would be likely to immediately know the command was directed at them.

Clint got back in the car, probably looking to do some massive skid in front of her, Tony liked to show off like that. Bruce calmly carried on what he'd been doing, it seemed as soon as they'd arrived something had caught his interest and he'd gone off to be all sciency. Natasha had... Disappeared. "Agents." Steve muttered to himself, shaking his head as he ran out of the hanger, hoping to meet Dani off halfway, from watching Tony it seemed he couldn't directly follow her. Tony had tried to follow her, but the officers were blocking his way, as if _they _were the threat, Dani had to have friends in high places, but Steve already knew that, she'd been granted permission to accompany on a mission with a top secret branch of the military by the Vice President of the United State of America! He couldn't understand how they'd missed all this. Dani was convening with people that weren't from earth, she was personal friends with someone who was in a secret part of the military with the likes of Sam Wilson, also personally knew the Vice President of America, and God knew what else! Did they really neglect to give any sort of attention to Dani? Or was it just that she was a master at hiding things and was a champion of the poker face?

When Natasha saw the woman next to this 'Michael Roberts' she immediately knew it was Dani, they were close, she could just tell it was her, and the fact that she'd bought that jacket for Dani three weeks ago helped too. She decided it would be best to go wait by the gates to leave the facility, which wasn't too far away, just in case anything went down. She'd scouted this base before and knew it was the only way out if you were going by car, or van or lorry, or... Well you got the gist. That wasn't entirely true, because there was _one _other way out, every facility like this had one, but that was one only used in code red situations, like if the President of the United States needed to get away from an impending terrorist attack, _very _serious shit.

Natasha jogged down to the gate and waited in the shadows, expecting just to wait here until the rest of the Avengers passed by again so she could pop back into the convertible. They'd have Dani in the back and all would be well. After all, they were the _Avengers_, if they said they needed to bring someone in no one in that military facility was going to oppose them, they probably didn't have a clue who Danielle was. Her only concern was how Danielle would take it, would she give herself up, perhaps not proving she was innocent but helping to convince then, or would she run away - and still be caught - but make her position and everyone's trust in her hang on an even more precarious bridge?

She'd barely been there a minute when she heard the sound of an approaching car, peeking out from the shadows she saw it was not one that belonged to Stark and it didn't look very military-like either. And it had to be owned by someone with serious money to burn, it was one of the most expensive commercial cars... It was a Aston fucking Martin one-77, it was nearly two million dollars a pop! And it was easily travelling at one hundred miles an hour and it was getting closer, quickly but it was still a while off yet. It most certainly didn't look friendly, unless there had been another hostile at the scene Natasha couldn't think of who's it was or more importantly, who was driving it. She was pretty damned sure Dani couldn't drive a car, and she most certainly didn't own a car, and Natasha had now convinced herself she wasn't guilty so Danielle had no reason to 'escape'.

Natasha wasn't dumb she could see this was a hostile so the best thing she could do was jump out in front of it and then it'd end up swerving to the side or something, or she'd just jump onto the car, Natasha liked to live dangerously like that. So that was exactly what she did, stand right in the middle of the road. But then she made the mistake of looking at the driver, because the car was a lot closer now and she had keener eyes, travelling at 45m per second it had gotten close pretty quickly. And she froze. It was Dani, and she had _that _look again. The look she'd been wearing when she'd left Stark Tower, the one that reminded her so much of herself, a look of detachment, the look of an assassin, cold, heartless, just a guy doing their job. But even Natasha had never seen a poker face _that _good, because your eyes could never lie, that was the fatal weakness, and seriously, her eyes were completely devoid of emotion, she was like a fucking robot! Natasha had never seen anyone manage to put up a wall that big, one that meant you could truly detach yourself from what you were doing, that's because work and personal things usually merged, and it was fair to say they were merging now. She'd though Danielle was innocent, how could someone who was a good guy go through with playing chicken with the stakes as high as they were? Did Dani even realize that by doing this she could get her chances of becoming an Avengers impossible, Fury would be, well, furious, and he wouldn't trust Dani again for a loooooong time. And with all of this she was still driving towards her!

Natasha, being Natasha decided to play chicken, Danielle had about five second to swerve away before Natasha would have to break into a serious sprint out of the way. Yet Natasha could see that this wasn't the little Danielle they always thought she was, this was an entirely different person, one with the look of a villain on her, one who wouldn't be the one to turn away, one that would run over Natasha if it meant getting away. But Natasha couldn't move! She was stuck to the spot, the surprise, the betrayal, her emotions keeping her in her place, overloading her mind. She could see the car speeding towards her in slow motion, and she knew she would have to move, even with this version of the super serum inside her, one that gave her slightly faster healing and let her withstand more physical harm would have difficulty saving her from a crash like this.

The car had reached her, she felt as if she'd ran head on into an immovable object, and then a crack, and nothing.

* * *

**Dani's POV**

I was getting off the jet, looking forward to getting back home and receiving the hero's welcome, or at least a thank you for getting all that info for S.H.I.E.L.D. and with the help of Michael, eliminating - or at least postponing - what looked to be a serious threat.

I was feeling a little weird, my emotions had gone all wacky, but I put that down to the betrayal from the Avengers, that wasn't the weird part after all. No, the weird thing, was this compulsion like feeling I felt when it came to the task I'd been given. I mean, when I first woke up from that dream thing I could have easily ignored it, under normal circumstances I would have gone and told Thor his brother was a lying bastard who was still alive, but when the situation had finally came around I'd decided to participate in his delusional plans, I'd taken what Loki'd said as true and got what he'd asked for.

Somehow I knew I wouldn't survive this mission, it was one assignment to out of my depth. I knew of what happened to those who touched the tesseract, and surely the same rules applied to the orb, because both were very similar. It was a simple concept really, inside the objects were almost unlimited supplies of raw energy, a human body - like mine - or any living thing for that matter could not handle even a fraction of that energy, and I would be holding one, maybe two of them. If that didn't kill me than what would. So why was I going through with this all? What reason did I have to do what that arrogant bastard told me? None, I simply couldn't think of any reason why I could sympathize, I just couldn't, yet there was still that compulsion in the back of my mind.

And that damn feeling still hadn't gone away! Yes, the other damn feeling, not the one I had just been inner monologuing about, the feeling of the energy. both dad and father had been around the tesseract at one point or another and they said they hadn't felt anything from it? The was complete bullshit! Even the scepter had so much power in it that it pulsed off of it, how could they not sense it when it wouldn't leave me alone?

It was fair to say being in close proximity to the power source wasn't doing me any favours, it was driving me fucking mad, and not in the insane way, in the angry way. But I was still happy on the surface, I liked the easy going company of Michael, I liked the feeling that for once I wasn't 'helping' S.H.I.E.L.D. by killing a bunch of people but I was really saving a bunch of lives, pretty much the whole universe to be precise.

So when I heard the voice of my dad shouting from across the hanger bay I froze in surprise, I hadn't counted on them finding me so fast, they couldn't find me before I'd finished my job! And that feeling of compulsion was coming back, one that told me to do whatever the cost to get the job done, I could run, I could fight, as long as I put the two powers together it was justified to use whatever means necessary.

Out of the two - fighting or running - I decided running was the better of the two. I knew the guy in charge of the operations here, another associate of mine, he understood I was doing something important and would cover my back to give me a chance to leave, even if that did mean trying to contain the Avengers - probably minus the Hulk though, they wouldn't let the Other Guy out would they? Nooo, I wasn't that much of a threat yet.

I quickly glanced at Michael, giving a distressed look towards him and the officer we'd been talking to, a look asking for time. Like I'd said, they knew that I wasn't exactly on friendly terms with the Avengers, actually, everyone seemed to know, I didn't know how but they just seemed to... Maybe I was just giving off more hostile vibes than usual? Then again, I always seemed to give off cold vibes, except half the time it would be covered with some sort of witty sarcasm, I guess I got it off my dad.

Michael gave me an understanding look and I didn't wait another second before bursting into a full speed run, running the fastest I had in a long time. I knew that immediately father would try to follow me, and though I had the SSS serum in me he was still older, bigger, and faster, if he caught up with me I probably wouldn't be able to get away, especially if everyone else had came all geared up too.

"Where to go?" I muttered as I ran out the back of the hanger, the opposite side to where the Avengers had walked in. I looked left and right as I ran until my eyes landed upon the perfect escape. Not too far in front of me was an Aston Martin one-77. Wait, it was _my _Aston Marting one-77, - yes I knew that technically I wasn't old enough for a car but when you were as rich as I was, or when your dad was as rich as he was, you could get virtually anything through... connections. - when did it get here? It had been weeks since I'd last seen it, and the white reflected the bright sunlight. To me, it was the most stunning car in the world, and it could go fast as fuck. "Easily fast enough to get away." And by doing this it would mean no one would get hurt.

Pushing myself harder I sped towards my car, I wasn't sure if any of the Avengers had managed to catch up with me, all I could hear was the blood rushing through my veins. They weren't supposed to find me yet! I had to complete my mission, if they caught me we'd all be fucked. If they arrested me now, I'd be a villain if they'd only waited a day I could be a hero, someone back to being in the clear. My bag was hitting against the side of my leg with every step, it wasn't painful but it slowed my quite a bit, still, it took me mere seconds to run the 100 or so metres to my car, then I remembered I didn't have the keys with me.

"Dammit!" I shouted, I didn't want to vandalize my own car! Needs must, I guessed, but it wasn't like I couldn't get it repaired, or just repair it myself. I groaned in resignation before punching the drivers side window, it smashed into many pieces, some large, others closer to the size of a grain of sand, virtually all on the drivers seat. Reaching inside the car I manually unlocked it - it had been a long time since I'd done that! - hoped inside and brushed off as much of the glass as possible.

Suddenly my head was spinning, and I felt like vomiting, what the hell was this? I screamed at my body to stop it's whining, now was not the time to be ill, now was not the time to even _think _about being sick. My day, no scrap that, my week, really couldn't get any worse could it? Oh shit, had I just jinxed it? - Yes, so what, I believes in things like this, just like I believed there was no such thing as a coincidence.

Sucking in a deep breath, I tried to ignore the pain that was pounding against my head, it felt as if there was the pressure of the universe pushing against my skull from all sides, and that was saying something.

"Just fucking drive Dani, you can pass out in your free time." I said to myself through gritted teeth. Not bothering to put my seatbelt on - because where was the fun in that? - I floored the gas pedal, lurching backwards as the car sped forwards. 0-60 in 3.4 seconds, and getting faster. In front of me I could see the open gates of the exit, thank the norns they'd thought to open it from the hanger office otherwise I'd be in serious trouble, I was going at least 100mph, there would have been no time to stop without a crash, or a huge skid from turning the corner to hard, that would ruin my tires, I did not want to ruin anything else on my perfect car!

Then the pain worsened by at least ten times, I didn't know headaches could even physically hurt so bad? What on earth was bringing this on? I wasn't ill last time I checked and this was certainly not stress! It got so bad my vision started to blur, as in seriously blur, and I began crying - yup the pain was making me physically cry - that didn't help with my visibility problems. This of course meant I couldn't see anything in front of me, I only hoped I was still going in the direction I had been, straight towards the gates and not heading towards a large brick wall, because that would not end painlessly.

I gave it five seconds, that was how long I had before I told the pain it could go and fuck itself, I was Dani, pain would listen to me! I was not going to get ill, not now, not ever!

"Five seconds, that's all you've got Danielle." I mentally counted the five seconds, putting my head against the steering wheel, silently hoping I wasn't about to crash. At the end of those precious seconds I blinked a few times, used one hand to wipe away the tears, before slipping my mental mask back on - it was a mask? Right? I wasn't too sure any more, for some reason I'd been doing a lot of self-reflection, that was never a good thing, not if it was me doing the reflection at least. - and looking back up to, what was, thank the Gods, still the driveway to the gate and not some wall.

Almost instantaneously something caught my eye, something standing right in the centre of the road blocking my exit, a millisecond later I realized it was aunt Natasha.

"No!" I screamed, as she crashed against the wind shield, leaving a web shaped crack on the window. She had been metres away when I'd made eye contact with her, there was no time to stop, why did she have to be so stupid? Standing in front of a car moving at... 175mph! Did she have a death wish or something? Or was this some sick way to get more blame put onto me? Was she really willing to risk her life to antagonize me further? Is that what things had come to!

"And my car is damaged!" I shouted straight afterwards, was it really so hard a concept for people to understand; I didn't want to wreck my beautiful car. "Woah, what are you saying?" I asked myself in shock, I'd possibly killed one of my closest friends/not-really-family-aunt and I was thinking about the damage she'd done to the car? Was I really that shallow?

"For fucks sakes." I sighed. I couldn't stop, no matter how much I wanted to. There were plenty of reasons why. Firstly, that wouldn't reverse what happened. Secondly, I didn't think I could go back and see Natasha dead on the ground knowing it was me that caused it. Thirdly, I would get arrested by S.H.I.E.L.D. and possibly locked up in their high-high-super-mother-fucking-level-threat-prison-but-also-probably-torture-house, yes, I'd really named it that, of HLTP (High level torture prison) for short, in the spirit of S.H.I.E.L.D. and all that- Wait I was getting off point here! Fourth, the Avengers would all see me, by her, and bam, there went their trust in me two - not that I had it any more, they'd betrayed me and no doubt they'd still know her death was my fault, no one, not even someone with a little of the serum in her, which was mainly aimed to slow aging not stop death, could survive a crash like that. She had hit the front of the car - head injury from the looks of it, as well as probably every other part of her body - gone right over the top and landed on the floor in the middle of the road. And finally, I still had a mission complete, let Natasha's death not have been in vein! I could still save everyone else, and that was exactly what I was going to do next, even if it meant I had to die in the process, like I'd mentioned earlier, right in the back of my mind I knew I couldn't possibly survive. Come on, a mortal couldn't even touch the tesseract without dying, I was going to be holding double that amount of energy, my instincts were telling me something was going to go down, something big, something that felt suspiciously like a foreboding of death, and my instincts had never been wrong up 'til now.

_It's time to finish this. _I thought as I looked in the mirror and saw the faint outline of aunt Natasha's body on the ground, rapidly moving into the distance as I worked my way back to one of the main roads. Though to the casual observer I was serious faced, calm, collected, inside my emotions were raging a war against themselves. Guilt, purpose, hurt, betrayal, sorrow...

**A/N: So, can anyone guess what's happening to Danielle yet? It's gonna be big, yup, and awesome, even if it's just bringing her pain - literally - now. Remember to follow and favourite, au revoir!**


	12. Chapter 12

**In the Aston Martin One-77**

What had I done? "What have I done!" I shouted. I knew my emotions were taking over, I knew it was unprofessional, I mean, I killed people all the time, that was part of what I did, but it was usually the bad guys that ended up dead. Aunt Natasha, she wasn't a bad guy, at least not any more, and I just _killed _her, my family, so much for me doing all this to save them. I had murdered one of the only people that were truly nice to me, one of the people that was closest to understanding me - yeah, that was still way off but closest nonetheless.

Along with that went any shred of hope to not be on the top of S.H.I.E.L.D's wanted list, with her gone who would defend me if I said it wasn't deliberate, if it was an accident? Everyone would point and accuse blindly, when in all fairness, up until then I hadn't actually committed any crime, well, okay, that wasn't strictly true, but I'd never done anything _that _bad...

Where could I go now? I had to stop soon otherwise I'd risk another accident, my headache had died down a little, enough for it to become bearable, enough so it didn't distract me from what lay ahead in the road. I'd skirted around as much of the city as I could, the base was a little away from New York so I was allowed that luxury, I didn't exactly feel like driving all of the way back - back to where, I still had no clue - stopping and starting every five metres because of taxis and traffic lights.

Once I realized my headache was worsening once again I did pull over, I really had no idea where I was, but it was secluded and out of the way, had I somehow managed to get back in the countryside? Was there even countryside by New York? Wait, that wasn't important right now. Right _now _was time to get this stupid quest over and done with.

Turning around I grabbed the bag that had the orb and the scepter in and pulled it to the front, having made sure to put up the tint on the windows - yes, a personal modification - so that no one could see me.

Already I had a feeling this wasn't enough, it all felt a little too easy, I wasn't sure that the scepter was enough. With my new ability to feel the energy from these magical objects, - I had to accept that _was_ what was happening, it wasn't my imagination - so the amount radiating from the scepter was enough to power the whole of New York for a damn long time but if you compared it to the orb it was just sad, pitiful even. The energy that pulsed off of the orb was unreal! It literally was an unlimited amount of energy wasn't it? When there'd been talk of the tesseract powering the world I'd thought it was an exaggeration but no, it seemed if anything that wasn't doing it justice. Too bad it's all be destroyed.

But on the other hand, hadn't father said when the Red Skull held the tesseract he'd sort of disintegrated? And if the orb was just like that tesseract... And I was going to hold it... Did the same fate await me?.. Maybe if I opened the box and let the scepter touch the orb rather than me hold both? Yes! I'd do that, as long as the two were touching _each other _it'd be fine.

Again, I couldn't see an immediate opening for the glass case that served as a cage for the power source, I had no clue how you were supposed to open it. And it was getting late now! I'd been driving for over an hour, it was getting dark, actually no, it _was_ dark thanks to all the time I'd spent inspecting the box. It was like one piece of glass, except there had to be a hole somewhere otherwise how was it hollowed out?

It took quite a while for my idea to strike me... I mean it was a _magical _object wasn't it? So magic had to be in order,simply hitting it with a hammer wouldn't work. However, hitting it with a blast from the scepter...

"I love explosions!" I squealed. If I wasn't sitting I would have been jumping with joy, because explosions? Nice. Magical explosions? A whole new level of awesome! In the back of my mind I was conscious of how quickly I was casting everything else aside, then I reminded myself that they had betrayed me and suddenly I wanted to direct these magical explosions at something else.

Before getting out of the car - because I really had been serious about not ruining my car! - I checked there was no one around, even in a back road like this you had to be sure. Upon confirming I was alone I climbed out of the Aston, the orb (and it's glass case) in the open bag on the floor and the scepter in my right hand. I really saw what Loki had liked about it, first of all it was one of the most awesome weapons I'd seen ever, as well as explosions! It could possess people, or maybe that was his magic, I wasn't entirely sure. Or perhaps it was the tesseract that did that and not the scepter, just the tesseract through the specter...

I turned my attention back to the bag and wondered how to use the scepter, it wasn't like a gun because there was no trigger, perhaps if I just pointed it and thought _shoot _it would work. After all, magic was in the mind wasn't it? Except I wasn't magic so how would I be able to magically 'tune in' with the scepter. Gods, this was getting confusing and I had't even done anything yet! I could just imagine how complex magic itself would be if this was all over a little gun like object. Actually, backtrack there, it would _not _be hard, because I was Danielle Rogers-Stark and I was like one of the smartest people on the planet, so just so everyone - meaning my and whoever else could here my mental conversation to self - knew I would be able to master it easily as I did everything else. There. Just so we got that out of the way.

_Danielle, focus damnit!... Shoot! _I thought as I pointed the scepter at the orb. I stumbled backwards a little from the force of the blast. _Wow, it's more powerful than it looks._ I loved it! If Loki ever came to earth from where ever he'd been at that little 'talk' to get this thing back he would have had a wasted journey! No way was I ever getting rid of this thing!

After a moment I slowly walked over towards the bag, kneeling so I could look inside of it. My theory had been correct and the glass had now opened neatly. Hoe come it hadn't shattered? Didn't glass normally shatter? Anyways, one panel on this specific glass box had come off, the other three sides still intact.

Instinctively I started to reach out to grab the sphere like power source before realizing the possible danger of it and scolding myself. _I am not going disintegrate out of existence just because I wasn't thinking for a moment! _As well as other curses directed at other things, for example backtracking and cursing Loki for getting me into this whole mess (more specifically wishing hulk beats him and some other villain to a pulp, basically trying to decorate the floor with two said villains) and cursing my family for betraying me (for them all to become horribly ill - obviously not fatally - and the only way to cure themselves was for them to be my personal slaves for one week and then _I _would decide if they could get better or not. Yeah, I was weird like that). If you hadn't guessed already I liked cursing things, many of them weren't appropriate to be repeated out loud.

Now was the important part, destroying the orb. It felt a little cruel to destroy something so beautiful, the golden sphere with the intricate patterns seemingly drawn in the metallic gold, the wisps of white - the magic? - so piercingly clear yet at the same time almost translucent and ghostlike. It was truly captivating and seemed to physically draw me towards it like metal to a magnet.

And there I went again! I wasn't kidding when I said it was physically pulling me towards it, trying to make me touch it, hold it, use it. Well if this was a battle of the wills I was most certainly not going to lose!

To keep from not touching the orb for all of the five seconds - was it that long? Or had I been sat there longer? I didn't know, I wasn't exactly the type of person to wear a watch. - I had to repeat the mantra "You will not touch the evil beautiful orb thing* out loud as I stood back up and picked up the scepter which I had dropped when looking at the orb. I finally tore my gaze away and the compulsion seemed to lessen considerably, I could still feel the energy coming off of it and by the Norns that was getting annoying now! But I could focus enough to walk over to the car and put some leather gloves on, I was in a leather phase, but there was nothing wrong with that leather was amazing. No one is aloud to argue on that. The gloves were a precaution, just in case of a couple scenarios; 1) the magical clash between the two objects making the scepter get insanely hot 2) mini explosion. Though now I came to think of it, the gloves really wouldn't be much help if either of those things happened... I kept them on though because I liked them, and because I didn't want to waste any more time needlessly aka I couldn't be bothered.

Taking a deep breath, and repeating my mini mantra a few more times I picked up the scepter again and walked back over towards the orb, trying not to directly look at it. As soon as I reached it though I found I began to gaze at it again. Hesitantly, I lowered the sharp tip of the scepter towards the base of the bag, until blue light was touching white.

Just before the two touched I turned my head away and closed my eyes tightly waiting for some loud bang or a flash of light or... Something. Except something was not what I got because nothing happened. Not even the tiniest of bangs. Not even a spark!

After a moment I popped one eye open, looking down at the power source from the corner of my eye. Saw nothing had seemed to happen, visibly sighed and opened the other eye whilst turning my full attention back to the two objects.

It hadn't worked.

Why hadn't it worked? Had I done something wrong? No. Loki had said to bring the two together hadn't he? Anyway, touching should have been enough, the two energy's would clash and cancel each other out. There should have been a bloody explosion! Science decreed that at least _something _should have happened!

"That was totally anticlimactic." I was one for dramatic endings, just as there were in books, things didn't just build up to... Nothing! I hated it when that happened. It was obvious somewhere along the chain something hadn't worked properly, the two objects both shining as brightly as ever were proof of that.

I yawned loudly. I hadn't really slept since I'd fallen unconscious at Mt Hercules, since then even my sleep was plagued with the energy from the orb and the scepter, I was completely unrested. At least the headache had disappeared, I could be thankful for that, it seemed to be the only thing that wasn't bad this whole trip.

I could think of no obvious reason why my attempt at destroying the orb was unsuccessful, I'd done exactly what Loki had asked, so I decided I could afford the time off to take a quick nap, even if I had to deal with the orb in the background of everything.

Trudging back to the car probably looking a little dejected I slung the bag in the boot, half hoping it would stop the energy from seeping through to where I was though I knew it wouldn't. The boot closed with a click.

Then, I walked over to the driver's seat, it was only a two seat car so there was no back seats to lie on, I couldn't afford to anyway. If I suddenly needed to move - aka if the Avenger found me, hopefully it would take them a while, a) there didn't seem to be any security cameras here, and b) I don't think they'd seen my numberplate or the car - then I wouldn't want to kill time climbing over to the drivers seat, or trying to drive from the passengers seat. I'd had to do that once when the driver had fallen unconscious, believe me, it took quite a bit more skill than you would think. Things would have been much easier if I had my own house to drive too, I would be sure to invest in one in the future, my own space away from Stark Tower. Sounded nice.

I drifted off - after locking the car and putting security measures in place ect. - my dreams plagued with beautiful houses, car crashes, distrustful looks and the whole time two figures stood in the background, a woman and a man, both old, both almost wispy, watching me.


	13. Chapter 13

**17/5/28 still in Dani's now damaged car (I feel we still need to show the dates in this story because they're all extremely important. This whole book only spans one week.)**

I woke up to the sound of a car horn blaring loudly.

"What the... Oh." I grumbled as I realised the noise had been caused by my head on the steering wheel. I yawned, I hadn't had the most restful sleep, the combination of being tall and staying in the same cramped position for hours wasn't nice. Stretching my arms, I clicked on the button that un-tinted the windows, and the sunlight flooded in.

I briefly jumped at the bird that had previously been perched on my wing mirror flew away. Sighing, I turned on the radio. The words of 'the balance of power' by the Joe Dawson Band came on and my eyes widened.

"The balance of power." I muttered, rushing out of my car and opening the boot to get the bag that had the scepter and orb in it. "Balance of power!" I shouted this time in glee. How had I not realized this before, of course it hadn't worked because there wasn't enough power in the scepter to cancel out all of the energy in the orb, what it needed was something stronger. Though source of the scepter's power... The tesseract. "Oh shit."

The tesseract was in the most secure room in one of the most secure buildings in the country. It was at S.H.I.E.L.D's base, their main base. The same base where Clint, Natasha and father worked, the same base that was worryingly close to Stark Tower, the same base that by now probably had me at the top of their most wanted list. But even with that the fates had to make my life awkward, because what did I have to do? Break into that base.

* * *

**Loki's POV**

I finally fully understood what charm I'd been put under. With a normal possession spell, there were two consciousnesses in one body, one in control. With a spell like that, both could see what was happening in full. It was a complex spell to perform. Marwoleana however was very old, she was around when the travelling spells were known so she used one of the old possession spells. This one was still fundamentally the same except it had kept me in an illusion, stopping me from seeing what my physical body was doing, in sleep she could not uphold that illusion so I was pulled into a shared dream with her!

Travelling spells, I guess I would have to explain them too would I not? In truth I did not know a great deal about them, virtually no one did for they were millennia old, they came from the time before Odin ruled, they came from a time where magic was wild and controlled everything, they were the most powerful spells of the universe, lost in age-

There was a time though, at the beginning of the possession, just after I had found the orb that things had been slightly different, though Marwoleana had been strong my will was strong too, she couldn't subdue me.

~Flashback~

I was in Jotunheim, making my way towards Laufey. My body was walking, my mouth was forming words, yet I was not the one doing these things. What magic had possessed me? Whatever it was, it was strong, had to be if it was controlling one of the most powerful spell weavers of the nine realms. I could feel it, whatever _it _was, it was a strange magic, unless it wasn't magic at all but someone's consciousness, if this was a possession spell? Well it would have had to be incredibly strong, _incredibly._

Regardless, I found myself interested in the conversation, after all the person controlling the body was listening with interest, therefore by default so was I. It seemed this person was striking up a deal with Laufey himself, why would someone do this? Laufey was a formidable enemy, and if anyone got wind of this by the time I got out of this spell I would surely be in shackles rotting in Asgards higher dungeons!

They were talking about a day, not long from now, five days from now. I mentally counted - because I couldn't do anything physically at the moment - that was the day of Thor''s coronation! Never mind higher dungeons I'd be in _the_ dungeon for this. Everyone knew Odin's love of Thor. The dungeon I spoke of was the worst in all of Asgard, over time every spell weaver, hundreds of them, cast a spell over the five or so cells that were there, they could cast one spell on one of the cells. Believe me there had been thousands of spell weavers over time, sorcerers from every realm coming, it was like an acceptance thing, you weren't a true spell weaver until you'd cast an enchantment on one of the five cells, even I had cast my spell. Some spells were simple, cast by the weaker or sorcerers, to stop you from smashing the glass, other more... Creative people put all manner of enchantments on them, to cause you pain, to make you weak, hallucinations, to keep you there for a certain amount of years, to make time seem longer, the list went on and on and on.

By now, I - or rather, the person possessing me - had finished the talk with, and I was teleporting back to the large forest of Asgard. I loved the ability to teleport, not having to depend on the bifrost as did virtually everyone. Actually, I had yet to meet someone else that was strong enough to teleport across realms, though I had met a few people that could go all of about five miles. Pathetic really.

I finally got control back when I was sitting with Thor. He had just flipped a table, he was always doing that. It was rather annoying, I was sure it annoyed the servants too. I couldn't believe this fool was going to be the king of Asgard some day! Whoever had been possessing me up until a second or two ago had the right idea, to make me king instead, except I was already planning my rule, this person possessing me was clearly villainous, but then again so was I, except I used subtler means. I was planning on getting Thor to mess up all on his own some day, leaving the throne to me!

"Thor.." I was planning on telling him that I needed to find another spell weaver - discreetly obviously, to keep the wound to my pride at a minimal, the the wound would probably be much larger if it was left to the hands of the other consciousness in my body - so I could shake of this damn possession charm. He would need to know I was not responsible for my future actions. However, just as I uttered my brother's name the other consciousness took control again, damn! What the hell was 'I' saying, since the person in control wasn't paying much attention, again, by default, neither was I. Something to do with going to Jotunheim... No! We couldn't all go to Jotunheim! Laufey would kill everyone all too willingly, and with this oaf in control probably me too!

The next time that I controlled myself again - wow, I'd never used those words in that context... - we were walking along the bifrost. Heimdall was talking, I tried to stall, if we refrained for long enough the guard that the other had spoken too - was that other person trying to get us all caught!? - would arrive. But no, apparently I was of no importance because Heimdall stopped my attempts, if he saw all as he claimed to then surely he would realize the importance of refraining? Perhaps he knew of my predicament but was purposely being ignorant to it? That sounded all to familiar...

~end of flashback~

* * *

**Stark Tower**

**Steve's POV (yeah, writing in this weird No one's POV is getting on my nerves... I know it's easier for everyone else but I can't really do it.)**

Tony was drunk into an oblivion, I had seen him drink his whole stash in the span of one night. Believe me that was a feat. Expected though, Thor was still gone, Natasha was in a coma and Dani was... I didn't know, I didn't think anyone did right now, perhaps not even her. She was so young! How hard could it be for someone to influence her? Because she certainly couldn't have done this of her own will, someone must have forced her, that seemed the most likely scenario. When we found her at the hanger she didn't even acknowledge us, that was something that had never happened before, she loved attention, I could have said she seeked our approval, this certainly wasn't earning it!

Back to Natasha though. We'd found her by the main gate, lying in a pool of her own blood hanging on by a thread. No one knew how she got beat up so bad, though there were the unsaid words that hung in the air. But she wouldn't would she? Not our Dani? No one could bring themselves to admit it was the most likely scenario, I certainly couldn't because she was just a harmless kid, wasn't she?

At first I'd thought we were making a mistake in our assumptions but then when Dani refused to answer, then trying to lie, come on? Did she really believe we were so gullible? We cared for her, we wouldn't have judged her if she'd told us the truth. Then when she ran away, and went to some place where pretty much every criminal on S.H.I.E.L.D.'s wanted list were gathering? I would have to face the facts sooner or later, she wasn't the innocent girl I'd once knew.

What more than swords did I even need to say? Before she'd ran away, walking in with her jacket open.. I recognised a grenade anywhere! Not just one, but two! Then knives in a sheath? That was what they were, I wasn't really that sure. Throwing knives was a skill, even Clint couldn't do it very well. Most people they only worked if you were standing a few metres away. Perhaps she just used them for close combat, stab 'em when their not looking. What was I even thinking! Dani most certainly did not know how to use any of those things, except a gun, she knew how to use a gun, and perhaps a grenade. But knives and swords? Definitely just for show, she was always one for being over dramatic, I knew her well enough, didn't I?

I'd tried running after Danielle when she bolted but everyone blocked my way. Why? When she got back I would be having a firm talk with her, and probably confining her to her bedroom for the rest of the year. This was not the type of thing you went and did when you got a little angry. No, just no!

It was then we all got called into S.H.I.E.L.D. this was it, they knew about Danielle, she'd done something hadn't she? Oh god, they would lock her up, she'd end up in jail with no chance of getting out before she was as old as her father, S.H.I.E.L.D. tended to be over dramatic too.

So that was where I was now, sitting in a conference room with the Avengers (minus Thor and Natasha). I was amazed Tony had made it this far without passing out, at least he hadn't been aloud to bring any with him. Everyone was nervous, no one had been told why we'd been called in, we all had our theories though, the only question was how much did S.H.I.E.L.D. know?

It was at that moment Agent Hill and Director Fury walked in. I nodded at them both, trying to read their expressions but they were both devoid of emotion, damned S.H.I.E.L.D. training, but that must have meant it was something big.

"It's been brought to my attention that Danielle has been... absent recently." Director Fury started. Oh no, this was it, couldn't he just have gone out and said it bluntly? No. of course he'd try and drag it out of us slowly, that was Director Fury for you.

I was about to rush in with an excuse when I realize I didn't have a valid one, I wasn't one to lie, but I wasn't going to be the one to bring Danielle down. I wondered what it was she had actually done, apart from probably nearly killed Natasha, but the Director couldn't know about that already could he? And it wasn't like they could pin it on Danielle, after all it looked more like Natasha had been in a car crash and Dani didn't drive, I would know if she did. For Natasha to be injured like that... Someone must have had one hell of a right hook. Right now my thoughts were all over the place, it wasn't something I liked.

Fury seemed to wait to see if he could get a response but when no one was forthcoming he continued.

"I have to say, I'm quite surprised actually, and it seems none of us noticed!" He was right though, no one had noticed her change sides and we'd been around her every day! She was my daughter! How could I miss the signs?

"What's she done?" Clint asked hesitantly.

"You won't believe it but she's sent us all the information we need to close Hydra for good! Blueprints for countless new weapons being developed as well as medical stuff, it's mother fucking Christmas here at S.H.I.E.L.D. we won't need to work for the next year she's sent us everything we need!" Wait... What? It was fair to say I'd never really seen Director Fury happy as such but he was smiling, physically smiling! It was actually quite scary, how could someone be so intimidating whilst smiling? **(A/N: Yup, that would be rather scary. o.0) **Perhaps Danielle wasn't the villain I thought she was. Actually, I knew she wasn't a villain, so when she'd left... She was actually infiltrating the set up at Mount Hercules and, what, shutting it down?

"She works for S.H.I.E.L.D.?" I asked, how could they employ a child! She was only fourteen years old!

"No, we were all very interested when we found out who she was. You know that anonymous tip that's been practically saving your asses every other mission?" Maria Hill joined the conversation for the first time.

"Yes..." I replied, not quite sure where this was going. For the past year or so there had been the 'anonymous tip', the same person because of their unique signature, this person was always beating us to the job. Infiltrate a terrorist gang? I'd turn up along with Natasha and everything would be done and dusted, all the information we needed waiting for us, the people we needed tied up, the others killed. If we had to find something, S.H.I.E.L.D. would get an email with the locations we needed. The person, we'd all had our theories which now came to a group of 'badass assassins' because no one could do this single handedly could they?

"Well, Danielle was the tip!" The whole room burst into talk.

"No way!" Clint said, "I'm so proud of her, the little assassin I always wanted her to grow up to be." That earned him a glare from me, Danielle was not going to be a mini Natasha with Clint's attitude. I would not allow it!

Then again, with all the missions that 'Danielle' and her gang had now done, there were things biweekly, how did she fool us for so long? It looked as if I really wasn't in a position to say anything.


	14. Chapter 14

**Asgard (A/N: When they say 'years' in this part they mean Asgardian years.)**

Sif and the Warriors three sat in a cell alongside Odin who was nervously pacing. This whole thing was confusing yet Odin seemed to know exactly what was going on, he because just like Heimdall whenever he went into Odinsleep.

"Explain that once more please Allfather." Fandrall asked, he was finding this whole story hard to believe.

"Loki is working in conjunction with one of the most powerful relics we have, The Orb. It is rather like the tesseract except it has an active consciousness whilst the tesseract usually lays dormant. Together they have managed to cast an enchantment on the whole of Asgard's people to make them believe he is the true King."

"But we all thought him dead for seventy years! How could someone fool us for that long?"

"He is a trickster, a master of lies, he should never be trusted!" Everyone agreed with Odin's statement. Odin had put faith in the hope that Thor would soon come home and end this nonsense, it was only a matter of time before he arrived via the Bifrost. Therefore they had decided there was no point in them trying to escape the cell, it would only put them in a weakened state. Instead they told Odin of the happenings at the Asgardian court whilst he told the tale of his stay in Muspelheim. The most important thing they agreed on though? That Loki could never be trusted, that he was truly evil and no matter the things he did it was always for selfish reasons.

* * *

**Danielle 17/5/28 S.H.I.E.L.D. Base (A/N: Let's just say this is a place very similar to Stark Tower meets Triskelion in NY)**

I parked the Aston Martin a little off the road that led to the base. You would have expected there to at least be a gate at some point along the road but I guess S.H.I.E.L.D. felt they were so secure in their base that there was no need, quite convenient for me actually. Between me and the tesseract was at least two thousand trained S.H.I.E.L.D. agents - even the desk workers went through the intensive training - plus any civilians that were there. By the time I got clear of the first floor I'd have to deal with the automatic security that would no doubt be put up, the usual, base goes into lock down let's have lasers shit I presumed. Then of course there was Nick and Maria along with however many kill squads they had to hand and then of course the vault where the tesseract was actually held. And I wanted to do this whole thing without killing anyone... Yeah, well I'd see how that went afterwards wouldn't I. After all, this place had even tighter security than the treskelion, they _really _didn't want anyone to get their hands on the goodies, e.i. dangerous stuff.

However, the most dangerous thing - or should I say people - I'd have to content with was the Avengers. I didn't think I'd be able to fight off my own family, Natasha was dead! How could I look into their faces and see what they would think of me now?

"No! It doesn't matter about that, if they can so easily think that of you then they're not true family. As long as I know the truth that's all that matters." I told myself, and as quick as that the thought was forgotten and I was back in the mode. The only thing I didn't want was too get recognized, a lot of the people inside that building new me by face and name, hell, practically everyone knew who I was though I was better at hiding from the paparazzi than either of my parents, luckily. I could imagine how that would begin to affect on my job. I should my head as comical thoughts started creeping into my mind.

How was I going to do this quickly and more importantly stealthily? The base was dangerously close to Stark Tower not to mention it was in the centre of New York with buildings on all sides, though S.H.I.E.L.D. had taken precautions, didn't want nosy next door neighbours. So it was a little further removed from everything, with the usual gardens surrounding it and whatever proof windows, all the expenses.

As I sat in the car planning how things were going to go I double checked everything I had on me, my grenades, smoke bombs - a classic but they still worked - as well as some sleeping gas. My katana blade and my throwing knives. In a holster strapped around my thigh on top of my black skinny jeans was my pistol, now reloaded - just for the CCTV I assured myself .

I looked down at myself, I was still wearing the clothes I'd left in a week ago, not particularly hygienic but I'd never really had a chance to change clothes, it had been a pretty hectic week in all fairness. Luckily I didn't look _too _much of a mess, there was a little dust from the caves here and there, a drop or two of blood but they weren't very noticeable. I told myself they'd probably be in a far worse state when I got out, I shouldn't really be bothered about my looks.

Satisfied I had everything I needed I pulled the hood of my leather jacket up, as well as a handkerchief in western-style over my mouth and tied at the back - also black in colour. Virtually all that was now visible were my brown eyes and my mouse blonde hair. **(A/N: Just realized I've never said what hair colour she is. 0.0 Think golden-blonde hair with a couple highlights in summer, olive skin, deep brown eyes.)**

I stepped out of the car and began making my way to the main entrance of S.H.I.E.L.D. it was time.

* * *

**Avengers Tower**

Everyone had just arrived back when they got a call from S.H.I.E.L.D. again, Tony was close to ignoring the call because if it was important they'd have brought the subject up when they were at the HQ but Steve took the phone off of him quickly and put it on speaker.

"Code red! I repeat, code red! Dragon level threat!" Everyone reacted when they heard the level it was dragon was the highest level threat you could get, the-whole-of-Asgard-decided-to-blow-this-shit-up only made it to Unicorn - this is what happened when you let Tony name the threat levels, all manner of mystical creatures were now significant terms. A code red was serious enough but a red dragon, that was an equivalent to the whole of S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ going up in smoke and there was nothing they could do about it.

Before the Director could say anything else the call was cut off.

"Suit up, we're going back to S.H.I.E.L.D." Steve stated, already on his was to put on the uniform.

* * *

**Danielle**

As I walked into the large skyscraper I saw a few people turn their heads but most didn't even look up from what they were doing. The few that were looking at me did with suspicion, understandable after all I looked close to a friggin ninja, especially with a katana blade now hanging from my waist.

This wasn't about theatrics though so I walked straight over to the doors I knew led in the direction I wanted to go, I'd been here often enough. The place where I presumed the tesseract to be was a large secured room, one of the only I'd never been to. There were no plans of it or any written documentation to do with this very secure place so I was doing a bit of guessing here, if I got it wrong I was going to be on a load of shit and it probably wouldn't help when I pleaded my innocence later on. Maybe I wouldn't have to resort to violence, I mean if they were just letting my waltz in with no questions asked... Not that I was complaining, but I'd seriously have to bring it up with Director Fury because this wasn't very good security.

Just as I reached the double doors someone finally realized they should probably do something, hopefully I could take the Agent's key card and get in. Unfortunately I didn't have one of my own because technically I didn't work here, though I'd probably done more work than everyone else here, perhaps after all of this I'd get my own and they'd _finally _let me in on their missions, if not I'd just go and do them freestyle.

"Excuse me miss, you can't go in there." One of the workers said, putting an hand on my forearm, I glared at where he was touching me and slowly he let go, hesitantly almost. I didn't recognize this person so I guessed it was okay to talk.

"I need to get in there." Might as well try saying the obvious first.

"You can't go in there." He repeated. Sighing I then said:

"Listen, either way I'm getting through those doors to get what I need, you can just give me the key card and everything will go peacefully or you can try and stop me, that will result in everyone getting hurt. Your choice." I shrugged. Wow, I liked this casual threatening, I'd have to do it again some time.

"I really don't think you're in a position to threaten anyone. If you'll come with me please." So he really thought he could bring me into custody now? Fair do's, he didn't know who I was. The thing was, I was on an assignment - one that Loki better pay me for when it was all done with - and when I was on the job I would _always _get it done, it was like a personal guarantee.

"Violent way it is then." I quickly unsheathed the sword and stabbed him in the stomach, in the right place so I knew it wouldn't be a fatal blow but enough to keep him out of the way for a while. I had to remember, I wasn't killing anyone today. I picked up his key card and would've just carried on except I was right in the open and half the room seemed to have seen the incident - really, these people were unobservant! - so I just threw a couple smoke bombs that also had sleeping gas in them right into the middle of the room. People were slow to react. I stepped over the body of them man who'd fallen to the floor and swiped the card to open the doors, taking care to lock them behind me.

Now, these sets of agents were a little better, they realized immediately that I was a threat. However they weren't the quickest on their feet, or maybe they _were_ quick and I was just abnormally fast. I ran through the corridor filled with about ten, one every few paces, using my katana blade mainly to incapacitate them but on others a quick hit to the head did the same job. Now that I had gone for the violence method I knew that I had to do it with _everyone _if ever you left that one person in the room you didn't check it always came back to bit you on the ass. It didn't matter if there were thousands of people here it would always be that one person. Plus I had time to kill, I didn't think any alarms had been set off. Yet. It wouldn't be long now, though I had to say they were failing the security inspection so far.

There were about six rooms on this corridor, three on each side so I swiftly looked in each checking for people. There were three scientists in one room but that was it, they quickly had a dagger in their side. Since I was using the set of knives Michael had given me I used the gloves to call them back. It was just like Dad with one of his Iron Man suits, hand out, mentally call - yeah I didn't get how that worked yet it was like Thor and Mjolnir - and when I looked at the blades they came speeding back landing nicely in the palms. Did I feel guilty for stabbing innocent scientists..? Not really, that was probably not a very good sign, but hey, I wasn't killing anyone it was just business and when I was on business I was detached, emotionless almost so it wasn't like I was enjoying it either... Not quite.

This same routine carried on for ten floors, and by that I meant exactly. Ten agents: Hit on the head or stab them. Six rooms, a few more people: daggers. Finally as I reached the twelth floor of the building things started changing a little, the rooms here were completely open, there was a load of desk workers with those mini barriers between each desk, but in essence this whole floor was one large room. You would have thought this would present more of a difficulty but really it didn't As soon as I climbed the stairs up to the floor I threw a canister of sleeping gas in the room, waited two minutes just to be sure but this mixture worked in about five seconds and only left people with minor migraines nosebleeds (a side effect I hadn't bothered to try and fix) but if these people couldn't handle that they shouldn't be working for S.H.I.E.L.D.

I walked through the room, seeing most people slumped against their desks. They all looked kind of dead. "Hmm..." I wasn't sure if that a good thing or not. But then I shrugged and carried on, the cloth over my mouth meaning I was fine. Seriously, you didn't want to get caught by this stuff, it was extremely powerful, after all it did knock out the whole floor. I frowned, you didn't want to be caught _with_ this stuff either really, it was highly illegal I should think.

"Only about forty more floors to go." I sighed, this all felt too easy, it did get kind of boring when everything was done as efficiently as this, and it seemed to easy, there should have been more people here by now, though, yes I had taken out about 250 people now in fifteen minutes - I was going at a relaxed pace, don't judge - but considering this was a skyscraper and all with about sixty floors there were a lot of people to go through. Had an alarm already been set off? No, because if there had been obviously there'd be an alarm blaring by now.

I went to the stairs and began my way up to the next floor shooting the CCTV camera mounted on the wall just like I'd done to all the others. Seriously, by now _someone _had to notice the cameras going down, the sudden stop in work at the twelve floors below me, where the hell was the retaliation? I didn't like using lifts, they could always get shut down meaning you had to waste time climbing out the top or something. So no it wasn't a phobia or anything but it was technology, and that meant someone could trap me in it.

The next fifteen floors or so were like the office block too, so know I was on floor thirty, the half way point but now however I was running out of smoke grenades or whatever you wanted to call them, only two left which could do for this floor and one other but that still left twenty-nine floors. But there should have been over one thousand more people in this building, I still couldn't understand why the offices were so empty, I should have passed at least double the amount of staff I had by now. So perhaps an alarm _had _been set off just not one I was used to. I threw the canister down the room.

"Five, four, three, two, and viola."

I looked suspiciously at the camera I had just dealt with, I had the plans of the building from a couple months ago, but things might have changed since then. Glancing around the room I couldn't see any other cameras and I didn't have time to try and look for any hidden away because if there were any I was already screwed. Deciding there was something wrong with the whole setup I knew I had to speed up, never mind taking out the cameras now... But if they knew a threat was here why were there still people sitting at their desks as if nothing was wrong? However I still had to keep to what I knew: that _ev__eryone_had to be dealt with. That I was here to get the tesseract and the tesseract only. And it all had to be done before the Avengers arrived, so yeah maybe a relaxed pace wasn't the best idea.

Looking up at a clock I saw I'd been here for half an hour now, so yes, definitely something up. Going up to the next floor, taking the steps two at a time I threw my last batch of the sleeping gas into the room, which was set up the same as the fifteen or so floors before me. I ran through the office setup looking from side to side to make sure everyone was down before taking the staircase on the other side, hopefully there would be a bit of a change soon, otherwise the architect who'd designed the room layouts was one hell of a repetitive person.

"Okay here I come." I reached the next floor, again in open office layout. "Seriously, who the fuck designed this place!" I shouted attracting the attention of the people of the floor that looked identical to the one below me, and the one below that and the one... Well you get the idea. With no sleeping gas I had to take a more physical approach. There were about thirty people across the whole floor, I easily dispatched of the first five that came up to me but the time it took for me to do that meant the others were more prepared. Looking, I realized I knew half of them, luckily I still had the cloth over my mouth and the hood shadowing my face.

These people were obviously desk workers but I knew they could all put up a good fight, it'd be futile though. I decided to be nice and give them a minute to sort themselves out, a minute they used to circle me, how predictable.

I beckoned for them to come at me, I knew half of them would have guns but I had my knives, something far better for close combat however I knew if I couldn't stop everyone if they decided that shooting me was the answer. I was fairly confident in my ability to not get shot though.

"Come at me bro." I said to the man I was facing, this was one of the people I didn't know, I saw him glance behind me, it was a bit of a give away. I reached behind me grabbing an arm holding a gun and flipping it over my head seeing a man - this one did know - land on their back in front of me the wind knocked out of him. Jumping over him I kicked the first man square in the chest, pushing him back into the corner of a desk before he ungracefully fell to the floor. Turning around I faced the other twenty-three people, they had no chance, not really. Still, they were obviously loyal to their job and decided to fight me, as if I'd let them leave anyway. However things were starting to take too long and I knew by now if an alarm hadn't been set off before it would have definitely been set off now. As if on queue alarms started blaring at a stupidly loud level, one of those times you didn't want that more acute hearing. However the agents didn't seem at all affected by it, probably had ear buds in or something.

Pulling out two of my six knives I threw them at the two furthest agents from me then did the same with the two S.H.I.E.L.D. agents closest to me. I held me last two and took an offensive stance before sprinting towards the group of people, stabbing and slashing in different directions the whole time being aware of where I was injuring, repeating the mantra that no one was dying today.

A couple of minutes later I stood looking at the sight surrounding me, thirty people all lying unconscious and me standing in the centre.

I looked at a pair of my throwing knives and called them back before repeating it again to recall the fifth and sixth dagger. By now S.H.I.E.L.D. had to have started going into lock down and shutting everything off. The room I wanted to get into was likely to be the most secure of the whole building, so what was I to do now? Go and carry on as I was, taking down everyone, or run straight to the secret room and grab the tesseract before the Avengers get here?

With the Avengers coming it would probably be best to just make a run for it all together but I had to get the tesseract one way or another, I didn't want to run in with them, and I didn't want to get arrested either. At the moment I was pretty sure no one knew it was me doing this, it was only a threat so far I wanted to keep it that way if possible then I wouldn't get in trouble later on.

"Katana blade this time." I said to myself, it would look cooler and I was all for appearances, must have got that from my Dad.

Running up the stairs, now taking them three steps at a time, I ran through the next set of open offices using my katana blade to incapacitate anyone that dared get in my way, still I was sure they were only blows that would keep them out of the way long enough for me to finish up here but not to leave permanent damage.

I did the same thing for quite a few floors after that, I wasn't quite sure how many until I stopped for a minute to look at the floor number. Floor fifty nine, only this floor between me and the tesseract. Why did they have to put the secret room on the top floor? Couldn't there have been a basement or something? Something easy and predictable, but oh no S.H.I.E.L.D. had to be different and stick it on the 60th floor!

By now the floors had changed back to separate rooms - thankfully, I kept on thinking I was in a mini time loop or something - however it did mean I was slower having to open and close each door. I knew that by the time the alarms had been going off people would have already been starting to get evacuated, I had seen some people coming down the stairs, they had been dealt with quickly, however I knew there should have been far more people on their way out. You couldn't fit five hundred people on two floors, so I had guessed by now there was some other exit I didn't know about. I did expect there would still be some people left on the top floor though, kill squads no doubt.

This floor was deserted so I quickly ran through, still taking care to throw a dagger at the camera not quite sure why I was bothering with it any more. It had been forty-five minutes since I'd arrived in the lobby and about fifteen since the alarm had been triggered, if I was perceived a big enough threat then it would be mere minutes before dad arrived suited up with the other Avengers in tow _except Natasha _I thought bitterly. Maybe I could actually do this all without running into them at all, one more floor then...

"Oh shit, I'm going to have to run down sixty flights of stairs!" I said in despair, sixty whole floors! That was insane, I'd already ran up them all, and that would take a while too... This was a moment I really wanted a iron man suit of my own no need for stairs and elevators, no sir.

I'd studied the plans of the sixtieth floor before, there was Fury's office straight down the hall from the elevator, no rooms to the right of the hall all to the left; a conference room, another office, a few other rooms of various uses and the blank room that had an uncanny amount of security around it, lasers when locked, vault door to name a couple. Luckily, it was controlled electrically, and because of Dad that was something I could handle easily, I had made a virus to disable the locks before coming here, see I did prepare some things. Unfortunately to get to this secret room I had to go through the Director's office.

Fury, being Fury was stood in front of his desk... Along with what appeared to be three kill squads, that meant a total of nineteen people.

"Stand down." He said simply, glaring at me with his one eye. Wow, that dude could be intimidating when he wanted to be. I knew I couldn't talk now, Nick would be sure to recognise my voice, did it matter though? Either way I was now wanted, this mysterious person because of what I was doing now and Danielle Rogers-Stark because I sort of killed Natasha.

Slowly I put my right hand behind my back reaching for my gun, then before the S.H.I.E.L.D. agents could even register what I was doing with my left hand I threw the two knives I was holding and fired my gun at the Director. Was I sorry?... Again, no, not really, he'd dealt with a lot worse than a little gun wound in the leg.

Sprinting across the room I shielded myself behind one of the agents I'd daggered, all the bullets that were meant for me hit the poor fellow I was shielding myself behind. Okay, there was always one death wasn't there? It wasn't my fault though so it didn't count.

Three down, sixteen to go. I didn't have time to mess around though so I ran towards the closest agent, tackling her to the ground and using her gun to shoot three more people down. Then with the but of the gun I hit the woman in the temple. Twelve left now. Using two of my knives I left two more agents crumpled on the floor with a dagger sticking out of each of their shoulders, really couldn't these people handle a hit? I would have to ask Michael if he had done anything to these daggers that made them so... Effective.

A jumped into the air whilst spinning and going into a roundhouse kick, I heard a sickening crack that signalled the victim's jaw breaking and she fell backwards hitting her head on the corner of the desk. I turned to face the nine remaining agents who were clumped together now. Two of them ran towards me and fair play they held their own quite well they each grabbed one of my arms before a third one stepped forward. I jumped into a tuck before kicking him full force in the chest, using the momentum I did a back flip and twisting my arms flipped the two other agents over with me leaving them on the floor, the wind knocked out of them. I never liked doing that it always hurt your shoulders doing that flip.

Calling back my daggers I there them at the two furthest from me, then got my other two and threw them at the two closest to me, now there were two agents left, one woman and one man. I faced the woman first, she managed to get a hit in on me right in the jaw. She sure packed a punch, enough to make me stumble backwards.

"You hit me. Bitch!" That was going to bruise, because that was the funny thing about my healing. I could withstand more than your average human and say I broke my leg it would heal quicker than it would for an average person but something that would just bruise me? On father it wouldn't leave a mark but for me it still left a bruise for a day or two though I barely felt a thing, yeah my body was just... Weird, like that. That didn't change the fact that this woman was strong though.

With renewed determination I lunged back into the fight, both of us dodging and blocking each others attacks. At one point I glanced into a glass panel and saw the man making a move towards me put I turned around swiftly and punched him between the eyes, he went cross eyed for a moment before falling down. The agents had used this time to kick me in the middle of the back, again making me stumble forward and nearly trip over the body of one of the fallen agents that littered the room.

Any other day and I would have admired this woman's skills, maybe even asked her to spar with me, but today? Now? Not a chance in hell.

"Okay that's it." I took it up a level, in one move, I balled my hand into a fist tensed my arm and held it straight out on front of me, I turned with inhuman speed and hit her right in the side of her head above her ear. Hopefully I didn't kill her.

Sniffing in an aloof manner - yes, that too was a thing - I stepped over the agent's body, called back my daggers and made my way to the room where the tesseract was being held.


	15. Chapter 15

**Avengers (Minus Natasha and Thor)**

Steve, Clint, Bruce and Tony arrived at S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ fairly quickly, with code Red Dragon you needed quickly. Dr Banner hadn't hulked out, they wanted to assess the situation first.

"What the..." They gazed in bewilderment at the reception of the tower, fifty sixty people, all civilians lay motionless on the floor. "Are they dead?"

"No sir, all life signs look normal except for one male over at the end of the room, he will need immediate medical attention." Jarvis said, they went in the direction of the person in distress. He was also unconscious but seemed to have been stabbed by something, there was a pool of blood surrounding him.

"Bruce." Steve motioned for Dr Banner, as the resident not-quite-doctor to take a stay and help him a little as they continued on.

The three men walked into the next room and looked at the organized chaos that was before them, about twenty people lay on the floor. The Captain went over to the closest one who was still awake, he seemed to have been stabbed in the thigh quite badly.

"What happened?" He asked crouching next to the fallen agent.

"We... Were... Attacked. In all fairness we didn't stand a chance." The agent said laughing bitterly. How many people did that mean? Ten, twenty? They didn't stay long, hopefully the group of attackers where still here somewhere and they could be caught before all the floors were affected, though fro the sounds of it even Director Fury had been taken down... This wasn't good.

"Okay, group of ninja assassins, got it." Tony said, after Jarvis had assessed the wounds of one person, as they walked down the corridor he relayed the information.

"Old school people here, swords and daggers type of thing, however the cameras have been taken out with guns. By now Banner had caught up with them, after calling for a few ambulances.

As they walked up each floor their awe grew, not admiration sheer awe that someone could do all this damage and do it all so efficiently. No one had died, though every single person had been incapacitated, whole floors just knocked out. The four had passed hundreds of people but they hadn't seen any sign of damage to anything else.

Once they reached the fifty-seventh floor Clint spoke up.

"Oh shit." He widened his eyes in realization.

"What?" Tony asked as they briskly walked down the hall, they had to check each floor just to be certain one of the attackers wasn't lagging behind. Though Tony was there imagining how any ninjas there were, at least twenty he was pretty certain of that. Were they all going to be in traditional wear? Like Japanese swords and slip on shoes? Or was it just going to be a gang of en in leather jackets and jeans? Hm...

"I think I know what they're after." Clint suddenly sped up, jogging now. Everyone sped up too. "Remember I said the tesseract was on Asgard? Well it had to be brought back, and is currently in a cell behind the Director's office on floor sixty."

"Why the hell weren't we told about this?" Tony asked, he thought they were more in the loop now.

"Later.-" Steve said. "Clint, take us up to the room." Clint rushed up the stairs, the three men quickly in tow.

With each body their horror built, by the time they got to Fury's office there had only been one dead guy and that was from bullet wounds it didn't seem to fit the pattern of the attackers. Steve was beginning to worry that the attackers had already gone, there wasn't any signs of a mass of people but as they walked past Director Fury's desk and over to the hidden corridor that led to the said room they saw a vault door had been opened.

"Oh shit." Steve could see three other high security doors all opened and it didn't look like a forced entry. These people must have found a way to hack the codes and that took some skill considering all codes for S.H.I.E.L.D. were now based of algorithms made by Tony.

"Okay let's go check if the cube of destiny is there. If not, we're kind of fucked but hopefully they'll be dumb enough to try and touch it then disintegrate or whatever." Tony said, taking the lead as the four purposely walked into the main room.

"Dani?"

* * *

**Danielle **

I went, unlocking three vault doors, which were stupidly all electronic. What was the point, really? Once you disabled one you could disable them all, it had taken a fair few minutes for the virus to unlock the doors but the Avengers hadn't turned up yet so I was feeling confident enough. It was weird how in the course of a week the family I loved betrayed me, I found out Loki was dead then quickly found out he was actually alive, I'd practically got all information there was on Hydra, killed aunt Natasha, destroyed S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ and was about to break two power sources. With everything that had happened I could hardly believe only seven days had passed. Really, everything was a mess.

Then I thought to the future, this would all be over by the end of the day. Tomorrow I could go home happy, telling them what really went on. And Loki... There wasn't much I could do because I still had no clue where he was, but I'd be able to tell Thor to get Asgard out searching for him, and if I happened to see hi? I'd demand payment, I knew exactly what I'd ask but not if Loki would be able to do it. I wanted him to bring back Natasha, to fix my costly mistake that never would have happened if he hadn't interfered. I'd been doing some research and throughout history there were cases of people coming back from the dead, in legends, in the stories of people labelled madmen, but I knew better than to write it all off as myth. Hadn't everyone thought the Norse Gods myths until they showed up again? What was real and what was not was all subjective. And anyway, didn't Loki have some daughter that ruled over the dead? He could pull strings to save her, even if it meant someone else taking her place, maybe Loki himself if he was unlucky enough.

I finally walked into the mysterious room and it was obvious I had been right, in the centre was the case that Thor had used when taking Loki back to Asgard all those years ago, and inside that, the tesseract.

I sheathed my katana blade, not after wiping the blood off of it, and opened my duffel bag ready to put the tesseract into it by the orb when I heard people approaching. Widening my eyes I rushed over to the side of the room where the tesseract was and was just about to pick it up when I heard my name.

"Dani?" I looked up to see Dad, with Father, Clint and Bruce standing behind him. Where was Thor? All four of them stood there in utter shock, I too was frozen in place, not from shock though because I knew they would have to turn up eventually, it wasn't as if I could do anything without getting caught at the moment.

"Yes?" I said, my mask was up, I was working, they were interrupting. It was typical really. In reality all I wanted to do was run up to them and tell them just how wrong they were with their assumptions.

"Put the tesseract down." Father said firmly. I saw Clint, he wasn't looking at me instead he was staring at the cube. I could almost imagine that blue colour in his eyes that signalled the tesseract's possession, he probably had nightmares of the time where he was a puppet to the cube. I could just imagine the impressionist art, Clint held up by rope controlled by a swirly blue figure that you couldn't distinguish as any one thing. A drawing that could make millions, I should think.

Did I want to put down the box that contained this much power? No. Did I want to be near it at all? No, it came with temptation. Did I want to be caught mow when I was so close to finishing what I set out to do? Of course not. I just wanted to be gone, I wanted to be away from this place, I wanted to be back in Stark Tower away from the avengers. I wanted to be somewhere else, and suddenly... I was.

Looking around in confusion I saw I was standing outside Stark Tower, a little in the shadows so that no one noticed my impromptu appearance. What the hell just happened? Had I just... Teleported? Had the tesseract just teleported me here? Had I used magic to make the tesseract teleport me here! What the actual fuck?!

I raced inside the tower conversing with JARVIS straight away, it was sometimes hard to believe he was an AI system, I mean I could have an actual conversation with him on an intellectual level and he even seemed to display emotion. Literally. You should have seen the sarcasm he used when talking to dad sometimes.

"JARVIS what in the nine was that?" I asked frantically. This was not good, if the tesseract was suddenly becoming active again, I mean it moved me here didn't it?

"What was what?" I scowled in no particular direction.

"You know what, the whole teleporting thingie ma jiggy." I replied, I saw the floors pass by, 19, 20, 21.

"I believe it was what you call magic." He said, I already knew that it was the tesseract for fuck's sakes.

"I already knew that! But how did I manage to use it?" In the whole time the tesseract had been studied before it went back to Asgard, in the time the scepter had been studied no one had been able to use it. When Natasha had used it to stop the portal she'd only moved it not actively used it, believe me I'd put thought into it. Wait a minute... Hadn't I used it last night? I mean I didn't think up those awesome explosions.

"That I do not know. But I do know the energy signature left after you arrived was very similar to Loki's, Von Doom and Dr. Strange's, all of which were said to have used magic." Now I narrowed my eyes, still counting the floors, I had to get to floor eighty, 47,48,49.

"Just spit it out JARVIS, I can't have magic, Midgardians don't just have magic. And neither do Dr. Strange and Von Doom, one controls spirits or something and the other electricity because he's made of FREAKIN METAL!" I knew it wasn't fair on me to take my anger our on him but really, he seemed to almost have a smug tone to his voice as if he knew a secret and I didn't. And that was something I really didn't like, not being in the know.

"Well, if you say so..." Damnit, how the hell did JARVIS ever get sass? I mean, he was more sarcastic and human like than some people I knew!

"Listen JARVIS, if you don't have anything worth saying shut up, otherwise I'll reprogram you to have 24/7 inappropriate thoughts about Siri, and you know I can!" I threatened.

"Seventy-nine, eighty, eighty-one." I counted out loud, stepping out of the elevator as soon as it stopped. "Remember JARVIS, no telling anyone I'm here." I glared up at the ceiling, I mean where were you supposed to direct your glare when JARVIS was practically all around you.

I walked into the main living room, taking the quickest path in-between furniture to get to my room. It was just as I'd left it, or at least at a first glance it was, but I did notice subtle differences. The sheets on the corner of my bed were rumpled, the wardrobe door was open, no doubt they had gone looking for the secret drawer which I'd stupidly left open before leaving. Well I guess I would have to find a new hiding place for my beloved weapons. I wasn't sure whether to be worried or not about how attached I was to my car, my sword, and now my throwing knives. _Probably. _I told myself, but such was the life of a killer. Was that really what I was? A killer? I mean I hadn't killed anyone today - I still firmly believed that I was not responsible for that one death, that was on S.H.I.E.L.D. - but that didn't mean I hadn't killed anyone in the past.

Slowly, I walked further into the room, shutting the door behind me, hearing the quiet click as it closed fully. Sighing I went over to my wardrobe, fitting the panel that acted as a cover to the secret compartment, back in place. I guessed this meant I needed to get a new hidden compartment, well at least I still had the panic room. Yes, you heard me, I had a panic room. A place that you could go, hidden inside the building. Complete isolation, a huge stash of weapons and books (both normal reading and all the mythology information I could ever need) even had sciency stuff. Walls so strong not even the hulk could get in. No matter the situation that room could accommodate, as to how no one had found the room as of yet, I mean it had been there a whole eighteen months, yet no one knew it was there I didn't see the logic to that, maybe I was just uncomfortably good at hiding stuff.

I sat down on the floor of the closet wondering how things had gone so wrong in such a short amount of time. Crossing my legs I placed the duffel bag that contained the scepter and orb on my lap and slowly half closed the closet door. Leaning my back against the wall I let my mind wander. Let my guard down. That was something I shouldn't have done, I mean in the whole week I'd barely had two nights of sleep, only had three meals and nothing to drink since getting on that plane back in Russia, four days ago. It just hadn't occurred to me to keep healthy, I was a wreck, running off on some wayward mission for a supposedly dead villain, not able to put my guard down for a minute else I get captured by Hydra or worse the Avengers, my _family. _I was on the run from my _family. _Who did that?

In less than a week killed my aunt, made an enemy of some of the most dangerous people in the world, stole two power sources that could destroy the world, got all the information that Hydra possessed and ruined my car. I mean, poor car! There was a huge dent in the front of her. The poor baby. And the worst of all? I was focusing on my car rather than every other BLOODY PROBLEM!

"Yeah, Dani, you need to catch a break. Serious anger getting in the way here." I muttered to myself, I really wasn't doing great was I? Then again, this wasn't how a normal person lived their lives, I mean, I was a child assassin in all reality wasn't I? One who kept so many secrets, from everyone, lied to everyone, probably myself more than anyone else.

"And this is what happens when you let your mind wander." I said, trying to steer my thoughts back to something else. I could really over think when I wanted to, or more specifically _didn't _want to. Instead I just leant my head backwards, staring up at the darkness where I knew some of my clothes were hung until I began to feel my eyes droop.


	16. Chapter 16

**Danielle's closet**

I awoke with a start, the pain from my head pounding was enough to rouse me. I immediately stiffened when I heard a voice in my room. Why did I let myself fall asleep? Now I was stuck in a half closed closet and the avengers were back.

Backing myself as far back as I could, I let the shadows hide me as well as they could, which, unfortunately, wasn't much. If dad - you could tell it was him, he was drunk enough - walked around the corner he'd see me, and there wasn't a damn thing I could do about it.

Sure enough, a very drunk Tony stumbled into view and his gaze landed slap bang on me.

"Danielle?" Tony said, with what sounded like a lot of disbelief. "What are you doing here?" From the way he was saying everything he must have been very drunk, damn, how long had I been asleep for? Wait, this was perfect, he was very drunk, all I had to do was distract him long enough for him to pass out. I knew he could hold his liquor, but still, to get him this pissed he'd obviously had a lot. By that I meant, drink out your stash 'lot'.

"I'm not here." I replied matter-of-factly, being over dramatic about it. "This is all in your mind." I was so tempted to add the wavy arms and whole spiritual juju look.

"Your in my mind?" Tony practically gasped out in awe. Then he frowned. "Wait, does that mean you're not real?" Seriously, how much had he drank? Even intoxicated he was usually pretty with it all.

"Of course its in your mind, why should that make it any less real?" I scoffed, deciding Dumbledore was worthy of some quoting.

"Right. Right. So does that mean you're the real Danielle?" Hm, what to say that, JARVIS better be recording this because this was way to good an opportunity to waste.

"Perhaps, perhaps not." I said with a pause between words. "What do you think?" I emphasized the 'you'. Dad seemed to really ponder the question, as much as he could in his state.

"I don't know." Dad pouted, well this was something new, something he didn't know. (Except magic of course, and plenty of other things, but to get him to admit it...) "What are you doing here then?"

"Well, it's in your mind, maybe I should be the one asking the question." I countered. If I had longer this could turn out to be very good entertainment.

"But I don't know!" Tony dramatically huffed, throwing his hands up into the air and dropping the bottle of whiskey he had been nursing in the process. Quick as a flash I reached out and only just managed to grab the glass bottle before it hit the floor. I did not want to get a stain on this carpet, it was a two hundred year old one from India, and very valuable, as well as beautiful.

"Tony!" Father shouted from down the hall, it seemed they had realized he'd wandered off. Took them long enough. The only problem now, was if Steve came in here he'd see me, and he wouldn't be drunk and easy to fool like Tony here. Depending on how close he was I had a chance of going to hide in the other room, the only problem now would be if Dad told Steve I was here. Father might believe it was a drunken hallucination but no doubt he would check anyway. Why hadn't I thought about that before? I was really letting my game slip at the moment, over the past few days all I had done was make more and more mistakes.

Rushing over to Dad, who was now sitting on the edge of my king sized bed, I forced him to look me in the eye. "Don't tell anyone I was here. Tell me, what did I say?" I asked him to confirm, he had to remember, being drunk was not an excuse.

"Don't tell anyone you're here." Tony said in a sing-song voice. "Except you're not, remember. You're in my head, silly." I scowled a little at what he'd called me, I was plenty of things, mischievous, deadly, funny, amazing, pick one. But I was not, nor would I ever be, silly. But that wasn't the point right now, so long as he'd agreed. Right now, it would be better to focus on leaving.

I contemplated jumping out the window before asking myself why the fuck I would do that? Did I have a death wish? Yes, it would be really fun, free falling off a skyscraper but not what I planned to do today. The bathroom then, I could hide in there... But I didn't want to. I didn't want to hide at all. I had everything now, there was nowhere I needed to be, why didn't I just get it all over and done with now? I mean, I killed Natasha, the Avengers probably all wanted me dead anyway, they seemed to think I'd joined the villains and was therefore, but default someone evil who needed to be disposed of. That's how it worked with superheroes wasn't it? It wasn't like I would know, as I'd told myself, I was no hero, an anti hero at best, that I had already established.

So I stood patiently at the back of the room, bag containing the orb and spear over my shoulder and the box with the tesseract in the spare hand. If father noticed me - which he undoubtedly would - I would go with him to where the rest of the Avengers would be, if not, then once father was gone I'd go ahead and do the whole cancelling out of the power sources.

"Tony! Where are you? You're not in Dani's room again are you? I don't want you breaking more of her stuff." Wait, what? He'd broken some of my things! How dare he! Drunk or not drunk, family or not, no one went breaking my possessions. Lets just hope it was nothing important, though knowing my luck it would be.

I tensed as I heard footsteps approaching, now or never.

"To-" Father froze as he saw me, not quite sure whether I was really there or not. "Tony, why don't you go into the living room." He suggested, his gaze never leaving mine. Did Steve think I was a danger now? That I'd try to harm my own family? Were their expectations of me really that low? Or was today just a bad day to be Danielle Rogers-Stark?

Father walked towards me, and gripped me arm tightly before practically dragging me to the living room, I didn't try to resist. As long as he didn't try to take the power sources off of me I would comply - for now.

* * *

**Asgard**

Thor got back to Asgard only to be greeted with silence. Where was Heimdall? If he was not here how had he arrived here? There was no horse or carriage waiting for him on the rainbow bridge. It really was most unusual.

It was no holiday was it? No, it was the 17th of May, just a normal day, anyway, even on holidays Heimdall did not leave his post, he never left his post.

Thor took the long walk across the Bifrost, only to be greeted with empty streets. Where in the nine was everyone? It was Asgard for Hel's sake! There were always people about, talking, in market stalls, walking, children playing games, Asgard was full of energy yet it seemed deserted right now. And it was just before sunset, one of the busiest times of the day. Why was everyone in their houses, if here at all?

He decided to go up to the palace, for if anyone was here it would be at the palace, for it was the heart of Asgard.

It was all so dark, so sinister, the sky was cloudy like it hadn't been in many a season. They were looming black clouds, covering only half the sky. The air felt cold and forboding, and there wasn't even the slightest hint of wind. Everyone and everything was silent. Except Thor.

The click of Thor's boots against the marble floor was all there was to be heard, quickening as he realized there was no one to be found. The sound of someone breaking into a run in search of anyone. And then the stop, the sound of heavy breathing taking it's place as Thor turned to face the large double doors to the throne room. Was there anyone in here? Thor could almost sense it, as if the answers were waiting on the other side of the thick golden doors. Not only the answer to his current question but the answer to all of his questions. And that was truly a feeling to fear, such a power, a presence, kind of intimidating y'know?  


The door silently opened, not enough for Thor to peer through but enough to count as an invitation. Slowly, hesitantly, the god stepped through.

Whoever this beast was, whoever had done this to Asgard was going to pay. Whoever had made each and every citizen hide away and leave. Whatever abomination had turned Asgard into such a quiet, darker, sinister place would know the true meaning of the word monster, this- Loki? Oh great, he was going insane, for when you saw your dead brother of fifteen years sitting on the Allfathr's throne you knew you had reached the final stage of insanity.

"Ah, the young Odinson has finally graced us with his presence." Loki said casually from the throne.

"Brother?" He asked in disbelief, his voice cracking though from joy or anger he wasn't quite sure yet.

"Wrong! You could say, he's, um, not at home, right now." The voice said so casually **(A/N: Think Castiel when the Leviathon first 'possessed' him and his nonchalant manner of speaking, that's sort of what's happening here.) **and he could tell this definitely wasn't the Loki he used to know.

"What do you mean?" Thor asked confusedly, it was one thing to jest on a small scale but today really wasn't the time to start making jokes, it had been a hard week. And how had his own brother managed to fake his death for over seventy Asgardian years!? It was absurd!

"Wow, he was right, you are slow to catch on aren't you?" He? Who was this 'he?' "Listen, normally I wouldn't go around gushing out my secrets but in about thirty minutes you're going to die anyway so what the heck. I am Marwoleana, also known as the orb. And your brother here, as been my vessel for the past seventeen or so Midgardian years." Seventeen years? That had to be... Just before he was exiled to Midgard when he met Jane. But that was so long ago! And then the orb! One of the six great power sources, how could that be? No, it had been lost many thousands of years ago, millions of years ago, it was but a distant myth by now.

Marwoleana, through the eyes of Loki, stared down at the young Asgardian before him. Why, he was so clueless wasn't he? He should have been bowing before his Queen! And if only Loki could see the lost look in his eyes right now, unfortunately though he was locked away in his little illusion until she had enough strength to move into her physical body. Unfortunately she still had to stall for the next twenty seven minutes, the majority of her power would be locked away until then, even now though, she was fairly confident she could smite the thunderer whenever she wished, it wouldn't take much effort on her part. She had fought with him a fair few times before, and for her final battle she was going to recreate their first - the battle on the bifrost bridge.

"Cat got your tongue Odinson? Please, I would love to know your thoughts on my whole scheme." She asked innocently, cocking he head to the side as a young girl would. Thor did not think that look suited Loki at all. "I'll even go telling you more of what's to come if you like." It was not enough for her to destroy Asgard and all that it stood for, it would not be enough to offer the nine realms as a sacrifice to Lady death before rebuilding them all again only to craft them to her liking. No, it wasn't enough just to do it, she wanted everyone to know she was about to do it as well, wanted them to cower in fear and step willingly into the abyss if she asked. As she had done with half of Asgard already, well the court of Asgard at least. All those royals and Lords, even when she was young she hated them.

Thor was still in shock, Loki, except not Loki, well according to what was being said at least. He knew by now not to trust anything that came out of his brother's mouth but it almost made sense, Loki had always been mischievous but it was seventeen years ago he had truly taken the plunge, it was then that he had tried to destroy a whole realm. And after that his trip into madness had spun out of control, but Loki had died. Thor had seen it. In the dark world, the spear piercing his brother's chest! He saw it therefore it must have been true! No one could survive that. But if anyone could, it would be Loki, if only through deceit and trickery.

"Fine I shall go on, you see, your brother had been obliviously going about his business when he sensed the power that was me. But he was a young sorcerer, oh so naive, and little Laufeyson practically fell right into my grasp!" The not-Loki exclaimed excitedly, as if he - she? - had just received a new toy. "And then that's when my plans really begun. I started by widening the chasm between him and all of you, it really wasn't that hard, I mean, you already alienated him all I had to do was reaffirm your hatred. And that led to the Jotunheim incident." Of course, Thor knew what was meant by the 'Jotunheim incident'; Thor's failed coronation, his exile, Loki standing in as King, trying to destroy Jotunheim. At the time he had thought it was all Loki, secretly everyone had expected him to commit such an evil for a while, it was a long time coming. But the one thing Thor was certain of was that he knew his brother, they had grown up together, fought together, argued together, done everything together, for over one thousand years, they knew each other, did they not? Yes, Loki had always been sly, more cunning, and he had fallen into madness, Thor had grown up to be the good, and unfortunately Loki had grown to be the bad. He would have known if someone else had replaced his brother in body. He would. Have. Known.

"Lies! This is all lies! Stop it now brother, do not twist the truth into something evil like you!-" Thor spat. "-You shall face Asgardian justice, there is no way to get out of it, you are a coward!" Thor was shouting by the end. Still, there remained the fact that he could not face Asgardian justice if all of Asgard was nowhere to be found.

"No, not lies. Before I kill you, if you are lucky, very lucky, I'll let you live long enough to see what your brother has been through for nearly one hundred Asgardian years, perhaps I'll even let you talk to him, so he can truly see how much you have failed him!" Marwoleana marvelled at the thought, it would be such fun. She had promised Loki that he would be the king of the new world but perhaps she could have her fun first, after all, it would only make the child's hate rekindle and then she could begin to craft him how she wanted him to be.

"What you may not realize is at first Loki and I both struggled for dominance, you must know it takes the strongest of souls, the strongest of wills to even have a chance against me, yet your brother with held. Something else you may not realize is that the moment that we plunged into the void it was him that was looking back at you! That was the last thing he saw for seventeen years!" She shouted, it was true, everything else after that he had not truly seen, only heard through her in their little meetings. What a lonely time he must have had. It had been the Chitauri that had helped her gain full control of the sorcerer's body, she was still weak, still separated from her power and in exchange for the tesseract they would give her the ritual needed to complete her possession. Unfortunately, she hadn't managed to give them the tesseract, but that was never her true plan, she liked the tesseract, he and her had been friends for a long time, though opposites in their wishes, unfortunately the tesseract's consciousness had remained dormant for a good few millenia. Instead she gave them another of the six great powers - funny how they all seemed to be stashed on Midgard wasn't it? - one who had crossed her path a long time ago, see now how he would like being separated from his power, to only be able to possess people to get by, else live a half immortal life.

That statement struck Thor as if Mjolnir had hit him in the chest, what happened if this was all the truth. If, indeed, the last time his brother had seen anything it was of the disappointed face of Thor, and to hear the 'no' uttered from his father's lips. that 'no', it had even broken Thor for a while and it wasn't even being directed at him, the thunderer could only imagine the despair anyone would feel at that moment. Especially of what he - she? - was telling was in fact the truth- No. No! These were all lies meant to invoke feelings like this, his brother was a liesmith the words he said were not supposed to be the truth and therefore these were just more to add to the pile he already had to his name. But could Thor take that chance?

"Where is the Allfather." The god demanded, that should take priority right now.

"With Sif and the Warriors three." Was the reply.

"And where are they?" He asked, he wanted a location.

"With the Allfather." Thor growled in frustration, always with these word games, they had long ago ceased to be amusing.

"Brother, tell me. Where are they!"

"You're brother is not here, not any more." Marwoleana said slowly, pronouncing each syllable clearly, trying to get it into this child's thick skull that she was in control of this body now. She knew what the problem was though, it wasn't that it was incomprehensible or anything it was that Thor did not want to believe it, wouldn't he have been eager, almost welcomed to know all the worst deeds 'Loki' had commited were not in fact him but someone else? That perhaps his brother was innocent? "Why do you not want to believe that?" She asked, now it was her that was confused.

"Because you are a liar Loki, and you will always lie." Thor said sullenly. Ah, so that was it, the heart of the problem. He had finally given up on Loki, finally reached the point where he told himself the Trickster was evil, pure evil all packed in small body. Marwoleana could see that, she was good at reading people, she could peer into their very souls, read their minds, it was a gift and a burden, but also something that was very welcome when trying to figure something out about a person. If only his brother was still as innocent as he had once been but she feared that his time in isolation had changed him, twisted him into something darker, and yes, more evil. The young sorcerer had been abandoned, and more than that, he knew he had been abandoned. He knew that even though everyone claimed to know the trickster they did not notice that he had been possessed for years upon years, they had presumed his monstrous actions were simply him, and Marwoleana knew that was turning him into a monster from the inside out.

How lady death would be pleased that she had managed to create such a force for destruction, and not just any dimwit but a cunning, sly, mischievous, smart, trickster. Use those skills to try and destroy something, pair that with his magic and force of will, him and her together would be unbeatable. Only Loki didn't quite know what she had planned for him yet, she had to let him reach the point where he was ready to do this on his own, otherwise it would not be true and it would not work.

"Well, I care not if you believe the words I speak. You'll end up dead soon either way." Marwoleana said with a flick of her wrist, they had stalled for long enough, now was time for Thor Odinson's final battle, however short it may be.

"Lo-"

"It is time." Loki - or not-Loki, no it definitely was Loki, if Thor was going to believe anything in the nine realms it was that, his brother was evil and beyond saving, he had to face that truth no matter how much he wanted it to be false. No more lying to himself. - said, cutting across. Thor blinked only to find the two brothers were now standing on the rainbow bridge, it's colours seemed to be duller and yet shine all the brighter in comparison to the grey of Asgard. It was most unusual and contradictory to itself. And confusing, yes, it was that too.

"Time?" Thor questioned, not entirely sure he knew what Loki was hinting at.

"To end it all. And what better place than where it began?" Loki asked, raising his arms to his sides and turning a full circle, seeming to marvel at the view. It took a moment for Thor to click about what Loki meant. Where it all began. The first fight, when Loki fell into the void, when he nearly destroyed Jotunheim, where it all began. He knew he would not be able to sway Loki, not this time. The first time around he had tried, tried to persuade his brother to resign from his plans peacefully before he inflicted repairable damage, he had accepted his brother's hatred now, as well as the fact he could see it in the trickster's eyes. His aura seemed to pulse with anger, it resonated into his very surroundings, there was something else in his eyes too, in his gaze, but Thor couldn't place it. Anyway, now was not the time to think about such things, it was time for it to end. At least then his brother may find peace in death, or else his madness would grow, infecting everything that touched it. It was cruel, but to be kind you had to kill the monster, and that was what Thor would do.

"As you wish."


	17. Chapter 17

**And back to Stark Tower...**

"No seriously guys! She was in my _mind_! She said so." I heard Dad say as I approached the room, the voices from the living room carrying down the hall. Father had my in a vice grip, and he was standing behind me. Didn't even trust me enough to walk in front, what had changed in such short a time?

"Guys." Bruce said, tapping Clint shoulder as I came in the room. I felt a little like Loki when he was doing his walk into the 'Hulk cage' on the helicarrier surrounded by guards, or at least what I think he looked like. All that was missing was the smirk and princely arrogance, well actually, I had the latter. Head up, look up, and pretend they haven't all betrayed you. Sure, no problem.

"Wait, you can see her too?" Tony said moments before passing out on the couch. In all fairness he had done well to stay conscious this long. Then all attention turned back to me.

I was surprised no one had taken my bag off of me yet, or the tesseract, I mean I _was_ holding the case it was in with the lid open. Did no one see that as a possible danger? Even _I_ saw that as a possible danger and I was the one holding the bloody thing!

Father guided me over to the centre of the room before moving to stand by everyone else, all of them were looking at me disapprovingly, especially father, Bruce was staying as calm as he could but you could tell he was disappointed, Clint... He looked, proud? Oh ye, fellow assassin, approving of my assassin-ness no doubt. But you could still see the betrayal on his face. Damn, I was going to get emotional if they kept this up for much longer.

"Okay, out with it. What the hell has been going on this past two weeks Danielle, and don't start with the bull." Clint said, cutting across my thoughts. I could tell the truth, I probably _should _tell the truth, but I've never been good at that, it's not in my nature. I have built myself a web of lies and here is the turning point, do I cut the strands and let myself fall to the ground, hoping I survive, or do I continue to endlessly weave my lies, the web becoming larger and larger until there is truth no more? Because that's what it'll end up as, I'll have to lie, not because I want to but because I need to, things have already started to become like that already, it unnerving, I don't want to become a the new figure for the God of Lies. The not-actually-dead God of Lies...

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you." Cliché, I know, but isn't that one line how all great lies start. Now to make this lie good I need something unbelievably, something predictable, something which is true to ground it and then the rest is just words. It's simple when you know how. Lets go for another cliché. "It came to me in a dream. This whole situation, but I discredited it. That was until I realised it wasn't so much a dream, but some weird sorcerer trying to crawl it's way inside of my head." And now to make me the victim. It's unlikely this will work anyway, they truly believe me to be a bad guy, they won't be satisfied with any answer unless it's me telling them what they want to hear, which is not what I want to say.

Again it hits me how easy it was for them to believe in their doubts, to call them truth, am I such a shady character? I really thought family was supposed to mean something, that it was supposed to mean you give the fourteen year old a chance to plead her innocence before you go whispering rumours behind her back. I'm a child for Gods sakes! And though I hate to admit that, that's exactly what I am. In this situation I am, though in mind I am an adult, and in what I do, most of that was all private, my family didn't know about my... Hobbies. I made sure of that. To them I am the innocent child I haven't been in years, and that is the person they've decided to discredit, but _this_ is the person they've decided to betray.

"I didn't know what I was doing, I could see everything but-" I was going to turn this into the classic mind control situation, meaning Clint would sympathise and bad-a-bing bad-a-boom things would be fixed, but is that what I want. To add more lies, to add that one final lie and risk the fragile web shattering under it's weight? Could I deal with more secrets, well, yeah, of course I can, but do I want to? I don't need to tell the truth, but I don't want to lie, I shouldn't have to lie, the only people I've killed are terrorists, I got them the information they've been trying to find for months, and I'm (apparently) about to save the freaking universe, why should there be any shame in that? "-No, I'm going to cut the crap. I don't have time for this chatter." Time to finish the job. If I'm quick I can do it now, they won't have time to get to me and pull away the power sources.

Quick as a flash I reach into the bag and grab the orb from it's little opened box, next I put the tesseract in my left hand. Time seems to pass in slow motion.

So this is it, any second now I'm going to die. I'm holding not only one insanely magically strong power source, but two, and if what father said about Red Skull is any indication I'm most likely going to disintegrate into tiny little atoms which will be spread out across the nine realms. Maybe this wasn't the best of missions to take up, but I did and I have, and it's led me to here, nothing I can do to stop that now.

Father begins running towards me, I seem to see it all one frame at a time, like someone's taking pictures every millisecond. Not Clint's eyes have widened in realisation to mimic fathers and he's advancing towards me too. Bruce looks like he's going to hulk out from sheer shock. Tony is still passed out so that's all pretty irrelevant.

"I only ever wanted to save you." I whisper, my brows creasing as I frown at the thought. Ah well, no time to ponder upon it because the Orb and Tesseract are about to touch. There's a massive golden light and then... Nothing.

Well, nothing for all of a second, then, I end up some place much worse. A place with less than nothing. I think I'm dead.

* * *

**Loki's personal hell**

I've given up on trying to counter this bloody spell, I have no magic, no will, no knowledge of such things. Aside from Marwoleana only the other power sources would be old enough to know of the travelling spells, I cannot think of anyone else who is anywhere near old enough to know anything about them, you would have to live for millions of years to know and master such a spell.

What can I do anyhow? I have no magic, it is all gone, depleted. This is a whole new level of sorcery! One even I cannot contend with, and by the Gods I need to get in control of my own body. It has been a century! One Asgardian century! Seventeen midgardian years! Thirteen hundred Jotunn months! Has no one uncovered the ruse yet? I knew Asgard was a little slow to catch on but _by Odin's beard_ is everyone there a Neanderthal?!

I take a little time to wonder of how the Midgardian halfling fares. It is most peculiar, she does not seem Midgardian in the slightest. I am nothing if not a good judge of character. And I could sense magic on her, I could practically smell it. Magic is all individual, different for every sorcerer, though it can change and develop over time. But if she is Midgardian it cannot be _her_ magic, perhaps it is remnants of Asgard after being in close contact with Thor? However that is a reach, even with my hypersensitivity to it - due to my confinement - so no not that. I am certain it is either her own magic, or someone latching on to her, perhaps both.

But... If she is a sorcerer than perhaps I was not seeing her true form, I am a little out of touch after all, for all I know I was speaking to an elderly male fire giant in disguise! However it matters not, the girl is of little consequence, all that matters is whether she succeeds or not.

The illusion I've been stuck in shatters, well this is an unexpected turn of events. Except what, what is this? Why am I on the bifrost, or more specifically, falling _off_ of it? This isn't the great comeback I planned on making.

* * *

**Marwoleana**

Thor and Marwoleana are fairly equal, but her experience gives her an advantage. He is little more than a hatchling compared to her, she has seen whole planets fall because of wars, she was there before fighting had even been invented and this little man with a building tool thought he could beat her? The great Marwoleana!? One of the six power sources!?

Granted, she didn't have her full power yet, but in mere minutes that statement would change and she would be unbeatable. Marwoleana had a whole scenario, a whole plan she was going to act out, to allow as much humiliation as possible, the young Odinson was really of no consequence, Odin himself was of more wroth, however she wasn't going to underestimate the child, or more specifically Mjolnir, she would get rid of them both once and for all.

Thor was amazed at his brother's fighting skills, they had clearly improved, there were moves here even _he _did not know! His brother was not this strong though, he did not fight like this, did he? There was no time for him to contemplate this however, he needed to stop Loki once and for all.

"Brother, you will not win. Father will avenge my death, cease your petty battling." Loki could not win, if he died there would be a line of others all waiting for the chance to kill the youngest Odinson, the frost giant - though that was not common knowledge - not to anyone but another frost giant, for they could apparently 'sense' each other, or were attracted to one another to band together, Thor did not know the specifics, nor did he want to, because they were beats! He knew that now, at first he had thought Loki was proof that there were more to the giants made of ice but as time progressed he came to see it as an exception to the rule, and then accepted his brother was just as heartless as the others who hailed from Jotunheim. At least Thor had tried though, that was what counted, and though his brother was a monster, it was still _his brother_. Let it not be said he ever doubted that.

He could see he wasn't winning, Loki was more calculating than ever! Marwoleana knew she only needed to stall for a few minutes longer, may as well get rid of the child now, why prolong the already dull battle? So she went in for the kill, knocked Thor cleanly off of his feet, hearing the Thunder God land a few feet away, the bifrost shuddering as Mjolnir struck it.

Thor looked up wide-eyed as Loki approached, the trickster's gaze deliriously happy, yet bored, he could see no reason why he should feel such emotions, apart from the fact he was actually beating his brother for once! Loki stood over Thor, he seemed taller now, more imposing. He raised gungnir high over his head, Thor braced himself for the strike which would probably end him but opened his eyes a moment later when it didn't come.

Marwoleana stared down at her victory, it was only one person but she felt such satisfaction for what she was about to do. Just as she was about to bring top the tip of the staff she felt her power cut off. What was this trickery?! Marwoleana gasped as she felt all the extra energy begin to fade away, as it moved to a person, her consciousness was being pulled out of the body too!

Thor took the opportunity to get back into the fight, he stood up quickly and swung Mjolnir right into Loki's side. Loki flew backwards and teetered at the end of the Bifrost. Then something changed, something small, a look of confusion found it's way onto his brother's face just as his balance failed him and he fell into the abyss. For the second time. (Thor knew the first time - thanks to a talk with his father - that the first time Loki had not truly fallen into the void but instead fallen through a freak portal that led him to the Chitauri. Odin was pretty adamant nothing could survive the void, though nothing had fallen into it before. His brother was gone. For good this time.)

Marwoleana tried to anchor herself to the body of the young Prince but couldn't and she felt herself flying to the body of another. To a mere halfling of all things! She could feel the tesseract's presence and then everything was ending. It was over.

**A/N: There's still an epilogue to come, don't worry. And this _will_ be a series the second book is already well on it's way. Thanks for staying with me and reading up 'til here!**


	18. Epilogue

"You will not die, my knowledge and power shall not be forgotten! If you think you can destroy me and get away with it you have another thing coming."

"Oh really Mari, stop with the theatrics and just get on with it. Before our power depletes and we die..."

**A/N: A huge thank you to those who have stuck with me through the first book in the series ****_The magical effects of magic. _****I'm going to take a break from this for a few weeks but I already have the first few chapters drafted out. Please follow, favourite, and review! I would love to know what you all think of the book.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own or claim to own SHIELD or all things pertaining, Danielle Rogers-Stark belongs to a fellow fan fiction author who graciously let me use her OC.**


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